Litigation
QUESTION PRESENTED: The question presented is whether Chevron deference permits HHS to set reimbursement rates based on acquisition cost and vary such rates by hospital group if it has not collected adequate hospital acquisition cost survey data.
A federal appeals court today ruled against AHA’s legal challenge to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) final rule mandating that hospitals disclose their privately negotiated charges with commercial health insurers. The rule goes into effect Jan. 1, 2021.
Melinda Hatton
AHA today urged a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., to overturn a Department of Health and Human Services rule requiring hospitals to disclose their confidential privately negotiated charges with insurers, telling the court that the rule rests on a manifestly unreasonable statutory…
For the reasons discussed below, the Court rejects those challenges, denies Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 13, and grants Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 19.
The inability of Plaintiffs and their amici to agree on the interpretation of a supposedly straightforward provision is strong evidence that this is a case where Chevron deference, if needed, is appropriate.
HHS’s March 25, 2020 Status Report and Medicare Appeals Dash Board (March 25, 2020).
Government’s Reply Brief in Disclosure of Negotiated Charges Lawsuit March 24, 2020
AHA reply brief in case to prevent disclosure of negotiated contracts (Feb. 28, 2020).