Appeals Court Upholds NH Ruling on CMS Medicaid DSH FAQs

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit last week affirmed a 2017 district court ruling that permanently barred the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from using FAQs 33 and 34 in calculating Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payments for New Hampshire hospitals. The New Hampshire Hospital Association and several New Hampshire hospitals joined in challenging the CMS policy that reduced the amount of payment they were entitled to under the Medicaid Act and in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. Federal courts in Missouri and the District of Columbia have barred CMS from enforcing a 2017 final rule that incorporated the policy in the FAQs. In the D.C. case, the court voided the rule, meaning it no longer applies nationally.