Humana Medical Plan, Inc. v. State, Agency for Health Care Administration

898 So. 2d 1040, 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 3456, 2005 WL 598365
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 16, 2005
DocketNo. 1D04-1855
StatusPublished

This text of 898 So. 2d 1040 (Humana Medical Plan, Inc. v. State, Agency for Health Care Administration) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Humana Medical Plan, Inc. v. State, Agency for Health Care Administration, 898 So. 2d 1040, 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 3456, 2005 WL 598365 (Fla. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

VAN NORTWICK, J.

Humana Medical Plan, Inc. (Humana), appeals a summary final judgment ruling that section 409.9122(13), Florida Statutes (2003)(the Act), which mandates that the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), appellee, make adjustments of enrollee assignments for Medicaid managed prepaid plans operating in Miami-Dade County, was a general law, not a special or local law subject to the notice requirements of Article III, section 10 of the Florida Constitution. We agree with the trial court that, although the Act facially appears to affect only a limited geographic area, the Act has a primary purpose of improving the statewide Medicaid service delivery system and, thus, is a valid general law. Accordingly, we affirm the summary final judgment.

Background

The Medicaid program is jointly funded by the state and federal governments in accordance with Title XIX of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1396, et. seq. AHCA is designated as the Florida state agency authorized to make payments to qualified providers for medical assistance and related services on behalf of eligible individuals. See § 409.902-905, Fla. Stat. (2003). In the case before us, it is undisputed that adequate funding for the Medicaid program is a major budgeting issue for the State of Florida which impacts the Medicaid population in all geographic areas of the state and that excessive Medicaid expenditures or the loss of a quality managed care provider in one geographic area of the state can have adverse consequences for the statewide Florida Medicaid program. Further, Miami-Dade County is not only the most populous county in Florida, in the 2002/2003 fiscal year, Miami-Dade County had the largest Medicaid-eligible population, in excess of 420,-000, and possessed a higher Medicaid capitation rate than elsewhere in the South Florida area. Because of the size of the eligible Medicaid population in Miami-Dade County, any disruption of Medicaid services in the Miami-Dade County area which would result from the loss or potential loss of a provider could have an adverse impact on the efficient and effective statewide administration of the Medicaid program. Finally, requiring assignments of Medicaid enrollees in Miami-Dade County to smaller managed care plans will work to ensure that such plans will have a sufficient number of Medicaid enrollees to reduce their cost of providing services through economies of scale.

The budgeting impact of Florida’s Medicaid program has been of concern to the Florida Legislature. In 1993, the legislature made specific findings concerning the state’s Medicaid program:

The Legislature hereby finds that the Medicaid program has experienced an annual growth rate of approximately 28 percent per year for the past 5 years, and is consuming more than half of all new general revenue growth. The present Medicaid system must be reoriented [1042]*1042to emphasize, to the maximum extent possible, the delivery of health care through entities and mechanisms which are designed to contain costs, to emphasize preventive and primary care, and to promote access and continuity of care.

Ch. 93-129, § 50 at 707, Laws of Fla., codified in § 409.9121, Fla. Stat. (2003). Thus, in an attempt to contain the increasing Medicaid costs, the legislature required Medicaid recipients to be enrolled in a managed care program. Id. Under subsections 409.9122(2)(e) and (f), Florida Statutes (2003), Medicaid recipients are allowed to choose a managed care plan; but, when a recipient does not choose a managed care plan within a designated time period, AHCA assigns the recipient to a managed care plan servicing the recipient’s area.

Prior to the enactment of section 409.9122(13) in 2003, AHCA was required to assign recipients among managed care plans in a manner which maintained an enrollment in MediPass and managed care plans in a 40 percent and 60 percent proportion, respectively. See § 409.9122(2)(f), Fla. Stat. (2003). The Act provides:

Effective July 1, 2003, the agency shall adjust the enrollee assignment of Medicaid managed prepaid plans for those Medicaid managed prepaid plans operating in Miami-Dade County which have executed a contract with the agency for a minimum of 8 consecutive years in order for the Medicaid managed prepaid plan to maintain a minimum enrollment level of 15,000 members per month.

§ 409.9122(13), Fla. Stat. (2003).

As a result, rather than using the rotating assignment system applicable throughout Florida, pursuant to the Act, in Miami-Dade County AHCA assigns enrollees to managed care plans which have executed a contract with AHCA for at least eight consecutive years and which have not achieved a minimum enrollment of 15,000 Medicaid enrollees. The record reflects that four managed care plans fall within the qualifications of the statute: Preferred Medical Plan, Inc. (PMPI), Vista Health-plan of South Florida, Inc. (Vista), Jackson Memorial Healthplan (Jackson), and Limited Health Plan (Limited). PMPI and Vista appeared below and appear here as intervenors.

Prior to the adoption of the Act, Huma-na received a significant proportion of its Medicaid-eligible recipients through the automatic assignment process pursuant to section 409.9122(2)(f). Subsequent to the effective date, of the Act, Humana was notified by AHCA that it would not receive any Medicaid assignments pursuant to the Act until PMPI, Vista, Jackson and United each have obtained 15,000 Medicaid enroll-ees. As a result, Humana has suffered a significant adverse impact from the loss of enrollees.

Constitutional Constraints

Article III, section 10 of the Florida Constitution prohibits the enactment of any local or special law, unless the legislature publishes notice of its intent to enact the law, or the law is conditioned to become effective only upon a vote of the electors of the area affected. Article III, section 10 provides:

No special law shall be passed unless notice of intention to seek enactment thereof has been published in the manner provided by general law. Such notice shall not be necessary when the law, except a provision for referendum, is ■conditioned to become effective only upon approval by vote of the electors of the area affected.

The constitution defines “special law” to mean a special or local law. Art. X, § 12(g), Fla. Const. Thus, the requirements of Article III, section 10 of the Florida Constitution apply to both “special laws” and “local laws.” Sections 11.02, [1043]*104311.021 and 11.03(2), Florida Statutes (2003), set forth the notice requirements applicable to special or local acts. It is undisputed that no attempt was made to comply with these notice requirements with respect to the Act.

The Order on Appeal

Humana filed a four count complaint against AHCA seeking injunctive relief in which it alleged, among other things, that the Act was a local law enacted without compliance with the notice requirements of Article III, section 10, and was, thus, unconstitutional. After the filing of counter-motions for summary judgment, and a hearing thereon, the trial court entered a summary final judgment which provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
898 So. 2d 1040, 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 3456, 2005 WL 598365, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/humana-medical-plan-inc-v-state-agency-for-health-care-administration-fladistctapp-2005.