INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to join approximately 54 other Florida counties in a lawsuit aimed at overturning House Bill 5301. At stake is $1.23 million the state is trying to collect from Indian River County for disputed Medicaid payments.
Under state law, counties are required to reimburse the state for 35 percent of certain Medicaid expenses provided to county residents. Over the past 10 years Indian River County has rejected some state claims for reimbursement, usually because the patient treated here was not a resident of this county.
“The county person in charge of this checks each line of each bill we get from the state,” said County Attorney Alan Polackwich. “If the background information shows the person lives in another county, we deny the claim and the state has never challenged our denials.”
That status quo was disrupted on March 29 when Gov. Scott signed into law HB 5301 that requires counties to pay charges they have denied since 2002.
“The legislature decided they simply wanted counties to pay all denied claims and they are using forced collection to get the money,” Polackwich said.
Even though Indian River and other counties don’t believe they owe what the state is demanding, the state has the power to withhold money from revenue sharing funds – reducing the amount of sales tax sent back to counties.
There is a mediation process in place intended to resolve differences between what counties think they owe and what the state is billing them for prior to an Aug. 1 settlement deadline. But Polackwich said he has no confidence in the effectiveness or validity of that process.
“The state has lost control of its system and they know they have lost control of their system,” said Polackwich, who believes the faulty bills and botched collection efforts are due to systemic errors in state computer programs.
“I think we have reasonably strong legal arguments to overturn the bill,” Polackwich said. “We have never declined to pay what we really owe and I don’t think we have any choice but to fight this. It’s like a game of Texas Hold ’em the state is playing and we have to call their bluff.”
In order to get compliance from the counties, the state is offering to settle for 85 percent of what it says is owed if counties agree to the deal by Aug. 1. If counties dispute the amount, the state says it will collect 100 percent of the billed amount.
Commissioner Gary Wheeler said that amounted to blackmail. He also expressed frustration that State Rep. Debbie Mayfield and State Sen. Joe Negron who represent the county in Tallahassee have not replied to several commission letters asking why they voted for HB 5301.
“It is disturbing that we cannot get a response from our representatives,” Wheeler said. “If you ask any member of this commission why we voted a certain way on something, I think you will get an answer. That they don’t answer makes me think they don’t have a reason for their vote.”
It will cost the county $3,500 to join the lawsuit filed in Circuit Court by the Florida Association of Counties (FAC) on April 26. The suit challenges HB-5301 on the basis it violates state constitutional provisions limiting the legislature’s ability to impose unfunded mandates on counties.
Polackwich said he would inform FAC of the Board’s decision to join the lawsuit.
Assistant County Administrator Michael Zito said FAC’s first line of defense is seeking a temporary injunction to stop implementation of the law while it is under court review.
If injunctive relief is not granted, the county will have to decide by Aug. 1 whether to pay 85 percent of $1.23 million to settle the matter with the state while hoping the law will eventually be overturned, or dispute the amount and fight the state over specific billing errors in an administrative hearing while FAC’s lawyers attempt to invalidate the law.
