Tennessee Assembly Loses Challenge to Refugee Medicaid Program

The Tennessee General Assembly can’t pursue a lawsuit challenging federal laws requiring the state to provide Medicaid coverage to refugees, the Sixth Circuit said July 24.

The state legislature couldn’t prove it had an injury that gave it standing to sue, or that it has the authority to bring a lawsuit on behalf of Tennessee, Judge Daniel Julian Boggs said for the court.

Tennessee had withdrawn from the federal refugee resettlement program in 2008, but under the Medicaid framework, the state still has to provide Medicaid coverage to qualified refugees through TennCare. The General Assembly claimed this violated the U.S. ...