AHA, AAMC sue HHS over CY 2020 outpatient payment policy

The AHA, joined by Association of American Medical Colleges and several member hospitals, today filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services for continuing to reduce in calendar year 2020 payments for hospital outpatient services provided in off-campus provider-based departments grandfathered under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. A federal judge recently ruled in favor of AHA and the hospital groups and said the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services exceeded its statutory authority when it reduced CY 2019 payments for hospital outpatient services provided in off-campus provider-based departments grandfathered under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. In a subsequent decision on the 2020 payment reductions she said hospitals must file claims this year to show the effects of the CY 2020 final rule, which they have now accomplished.