Abc Home Health Services v. Georgia

This appeal, which we permitted under OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (1), is from a decision of the superior court affirming a final administrative decision of the Georgia Department of Medical Assistance (DMA). At issue is the DMA's authority to assign a different classification to various locations of ABC Home Health Services, Inc. (ABC), for purposes of reimbursement under the Georgia Medicaid program, than had been designated by the federal Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) and the Department of Human Resources (DHR) for purposes of Medicare. The Medicaid program is a response by both governments, federal and state, to the need for health care for some of those who cannot afford it, each government recognizing its responsibility to provide this service. Our federal form of government, and the similar duty which each sovereign has in this area of social welfare, complicates the administration of the program. As illustrated in this case, there is further complexity inherent in congressional delegation of administrative authority from the federal executive to agencies outside the federal government, and in state legislative delegation not only of that administrative authority but also state administrative authority to a state-created agency. It is a successful symbiotic relationship, but it carries enormous administrative costs.