Atrium Medical Ctr. v. U.S. Dep’t of Health & Human Servs.

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Groups of hospitals in the Cincinnati area and in rural Iowa, challenged the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ calculation of how much to pay those hospitals for inpatient services under Medicare Part A. The hospitals objected to the agency’s decision to include in the calculation the hours associated with a short-term disability program paid from a hospital’s general funds through its payroll system and a program offering a full-time salary for part-time weekend work. The district court entered summary judgment for the Secretary. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, finding the agency’s interpretation was not arbitrary or capricious and referring to “the most completely impenetrable texts within human experience,” statutes and regulations that “one approaches ... at the level of specificity herein demanded with dread.” View "Atrium Medical Ctr. v. U.S. Dep't of Health & Human Servs." on Justia Law