Federal Judge: Hospital Can't Increase Medicare Funding For Resident Training

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 29 denied a motion to reconsider his earlier ruling regarding caps the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) places on hospitals for reimbursement for training medical residents. The judge agreed with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that the plaintiff hospital does not qualify for increases in reimbursement because the resident training program for family physicians in rural areas is not a new program and does not qualify for special exceptions for increased reimbursement rates under Medicare (Swedish American Hospital v. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, No. 08-2046, D. D.C.; 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26148). Full story on lexis.com