The Biden administration is dropping out of litigation against a Texas Medicaid waiver that the Trump administration approved during its final week in office, saying the yearlong court fight has overtaxed the federal government’s resources.
Last spring, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicaid Services revoked a 10-year waiver for Texas’ Medicaid program that the Trump administration approved on Jan. 15, 2021, without going through a required public comment period. The provision, which extended the state’s waiver for a decade, included significant money for health providers to cover the cost of caring for uninsured patients. Texas sued the Biden administration, and in August a federal district court judge reinstated the waiver. With CMS’ decision not to challenge that judge’s ruling, the provision will continue through 2030.
“The district court’s order on the preliminary injunction did not address the underlying legal issues,” CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure wrote in a letter to Texas. “However … CMS has concluded that it is not the best use of the federal government’s limited resources to continue to litigate this matter.”
