Appeals Court Denies Hospitals’ Request for Retroactive Payments

A federal appeals court denied a request from a coalition of teaching hospitals to compel the government to retroactively compensate them for years they were allegedly underpaid.

The judgment filed Jan. 20 in the US District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that found the Department of Health and Human Services was not obligated to recalculate reimbursement for resident physician training expenses dating back to 2001, even though the agency acknowledged its previous calculation methodology was contrary to the Medicare statute.

Plaintiffs in this case included the prominent teaching hospitals such as the University ...