Cite as: 538 U. S. 644 (2003)
Opinion of Stevens, J.
provide a sufficient basis for upholding the program if it severely curtailed Medicaid recipients' access to prescription drugs. Cf. 42 U. S. C. § 1396a(a)(19) (State Medicaid plan must assure that care and services are to be provided "in a manner consistent with . . . the best interests of the recipients"). It was, however, incorrect for the District Court to assume that any impediment, "[n]o matter how modest," to a patient's ability to obtain the drug of her choice at state expense would invalidate the Maine Rx Program. Civ. No. 00-157-B-H, App. to Pet. for Cert. 68.
We have made it clear that the Medicaid Act "gives the States substantial discretion to choose the proper mix of amount, scope, and duration limitations on coverage, as long as care and services are provided in 'the best interest of the recipients.' " Alexander v. Choate, 469 U. S. 287, 303 (1985). In that case, we rejected a challenge brought by a class of handicapped persons to a Tennessee cost-saving measure that reduced the number of annual days of inpatient hospital care for Medicaid patients from 20 to 14, emphasizing that the change did not deny beneficiaries "meaningful access" to medical services. Id., at 302, 306. The District Court's finding that the 14-day limitation would fully serve 95% of handicapped individuals eligible for Medicaid satisfied the statutory standard.
In this case, the District Court made no comparable finding, but assumed that Maine would fully comply with all federal requirements and "not deny a single Medicaid recipient access to the safest and most efficacious prescription drug therapy indicated for their [sic] individual medical circumstances." 36 The District Court's assumption gave appropriate credence to the affidavits filed on behalf of the State, and, under our reasoning in Alexander, reflects compliance with the statutory standard.
36 Civ. No. 00-157-B-H, App. to Pet. for Cert. 68 (internal quotation marks omitted).
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