Chief Healthcare Executive June 24, 2022
In a narrow ruling, the court upheld the policy of the Department of Health and Human Services. The case involves billions of dollars in Medicare payments.
The Supreme Court sided with the federal government in a case involving billions of dollars in Medicare payments to safety net hospitals.
In a 5-4 ruling in Becerra v. Empire Health Foundation released Friday, the court found the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had the authority to revise Medicare payments to hospitals that serve an above-average portion of patients with lower incomes.
Hospitals with a high concentration of patients with lower incomes, often called “disproportionate share hospitals,” get bigger payments from Medicare. The government pays billions to these “DSH” hospitals.
Medicare utilizes...