HHS Tossed Lifeline in Medicare Appeals Backlog Fight

The Medicare agency has received a reprieve in the fight over how it must resolve a backlog of more than 600,000 Medicare administrative appeals (Am. Hosp. Ass’n v. Price, 2017 BL 281068, D.C. Cir., No. 17-5018, 8/11/17).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Aug. 11 that the Health and Human Services Department should get another chance to explain why it’s impossible to eliminate the backlog given current budget levels. The court, in a 2-to-1 decision, found a lower court order requiring HHS to eliminate the backlog in four years ...