New Medicaid Reimbursement Procedures Did Not Violate State Administrative Procedure Act
The Third Department affirmed Supreme Court and determined that a modified Medicaid reimbursement procedure for the school supportive health services program (SSHSP) did not violate the State Administrative Procedure Act because the new administrative directives (referred to as Q & A’s) were not new rules triggering the requirements of the Act:
The documentation and reimbursement eligibility requirements reflected in the challenged Q & As were not required to be promulgated as rules under the State Administrative Procedure Act. For purposes of rule-making notice and filing requirements (see State Administrative Procedure Act § 202), a rule is defined as “the whole or part of each agency statement, regulation or code of general applicability that implements or applies law, or prescribes . . . the procedure or practice requirements of any agency, including the amendment, suspension or repeal thereof” (State Administrative Procedure Act § 102 [2] [a]). Expressly excluded from the definition are “rules concerning the internal management of the agency which do not directly and significantly affect the rights of or procedures or practices available to the public” (State Administrative Procedure Act § 102 [2] [b] [i]), and “forms and instructions, interpretive statements and statements of general policy which in themselves have no legal effect but are merely explanatory” (State Administrative Procedure Act § 102 [2] [b] [iv]). The Court of Appeals has recognized “that there is no clear bright line between a ‘rule’ or ‘regulation’ and an interpretative policy” (Cubas v Martinez, 8 NY3d 611, 621 [2007]). Courts have previously found administrative directives to be interpretive statements when they rely on and constitute reasonable interpretations of existing regulations or statutes, or merely address the type of documentation needed to establish whether a predetermined test of eligibility has been met … . Board of Education of the Kiryas Joel Village Union Free School District, 516336, 3rd Dept 10-17-13