(Image: Supreme Court website)

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court opened its 2011-12 term with a case on who can legally challenge cuts to Medicaid payments. The case will surely be eclipsed by bigger health care cases this term (the fate of health care reform), but it is  important in its own right. If the court rules against patients and doctors, some providers say they may leave en masse from the Medicaid program for the poor if rates get too low—and they have no way to challenge them.

In an interesting aside, the case pits the Obama administration (which sided with the state of California) against key Democrats, who sided with those challenging the payment cuts. The unusual alignment surely won’t be seen if the court decides to hear the case involving health care reform.

To help make sense of this case, here’s a transcript of the arguments in Document Cloud.

And some stories about the case:

Washington Post: Supreme Court opens term with Medicaid cut case

NPR: Supreme Court Hears Medicaid Case

NY Times: For Justices’ First Day Back, a Knotty Case Involving Medicaid Cutbacks