The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia this week voided a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rule regarding how third-party payments, such as private insurance or Medicare, are treated for purposes of calculating the hospital-specific limitation on Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments. Twelve not-for-profit children’s hospitals in Texas, Minnesota, Virginia and Washington, D.C., that serve a disproportionate share of Medicaid and uninsured patients had asked the court to vacate the 2017 final rule as contrary to the plain language of the Medicaid Act and “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedures Act. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan found that the agency acted outside the scope of its statutory authority under the Medicaid Act and vacated the rule; as a result it no longer applies nationally. AHA had urged CMS and Congress to withdraw the rule, voicing support for the plaintiff’s arguments and significant concerns about the rule’s impact on Medicaid DSH hospitals.

Related News Articles

Headline
The Environmental Protection Agency March 14 issued a final rule that will require significantly reduced emissions from commercial facilities that sterilize…
Headline
The House Energy and Commerce Committee March 12 passed AHA-supported  legislation to reauthorize through 2029 the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider…
Headline
The Senate voted 75-22 on March 8 to pass and send to the president for his signature a package of six appropriations bills funding certain federal agencies…
Headline
The House March 5 voted 382-12 to pass the AHA-supported Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act (H.R. 3838), bipartisan legislation that would…
Headline
The House Ways and Means Committee March 6 voted 26-17 to advance as amended to the full House the Protecting America’s Seniors’ Access to Care Act (H.R. 7513…
Headline
The House March 6 voted 339-85 to pass a package of six appropriations bills that would fund certain federal agencies through fiscal year 2024 and contains…