U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras will hear arguments Dec. 21 in AHA's lawsuit to prevent the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from reducing Medicare payments for hospital outpatient drugs under the 340B drug savings program by nearly 30%. AHA is joined in the lawsuit by the Association of American Medical Colleges and America's Essential Hospitals, as well as Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems in Brewer, ME, Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and Adventist Health System's Park Ridge Health in Hendersonville, NC. In the lawsuit, the groups argue that the administration's attempt to undermine 340B savings in the outpatient prospective payment system final rule for calendar year 2018 is unlawful and exceeds the Secretary of Health and Human Services' authority under Medicare law and the Public Health Services Act. HHS has until Dec. 1 to file its arguments in favor of dismissing the case. There will be other briefs with the final HHS brief due on Dec. 15. The cuts are scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, unless the district court judge enjoins the rule.

Related News Articles

Headline
The AHA submitted a statement Sept. 17 for a House Ways and Means Committee markup session on a series of health care and other bills. Specifically, the AHA…
Headline
The AHA commented Sept. 15 on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services calendar year 2026 outpatient prospective payment system and ambulatory surgical…
Headline
The AHA Sept. 15 expressed support for the Ensuring Access to Essential Providers Act, legislation that would require Medicare Advantage plans to cover…
Headline
The AHA Sept. 15 urged Aetna to rescind its recently announced “level of severity inpatient payment” policy, saying that it “could erode the transparency…
Headline
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Sept. 12 affirmed a Mississippi Court’s decision to deny AbbVie’s request for a preliminary injunction…
Perspective
Public
Every health care provider strives to deliver their patients the best possible care, but not all providers offer the same level or complexity of care. Current…