Feds prevail in suit over mental health payment

LANSING (AP) -- The state of Michigan has failed to persuade a court to order more federal payments for the care of the mentally ill. The state was seeking nearly $10 million to care for certain Medicare recipients from 2003 to 2006. The state claimed the federal government wrongly calculated reimbursements for those years. But a federal appeals court recently said the amount of reimbursement is controlled by a law passed by Congress. It agreed with a federal judge in Bay City that the law is "clear and unambiguous." The state believed it could collect more after a cap on certain payments expired in 2002. Published: Tue, Aug 28, 2012