5th Circuit: Challenge To Medicare Calculation For Low-Income Patients Denied

NEW ORLEANS - The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 6 affirmed a trial court order denying health care providers' challenge of how the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determines whether a hospital qualifies for, and the amount of, payment for serving a "disproportionate number of low-income patients." The court determined that the U.S. Congress specifically meant to leave out patients who qualify for Medicare Part A and Medicaid but do not qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) when calculating the extra payments (Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, et al., v. Kathleen Sebelius, as Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, et al., No. 12-60333, 5th Cir.; 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 25040).Full story on lexis.com