Medicare Class Action Over Outpatient Status Moves Ahead

A class of Medicare beneficiaries may continue their efforts to force the HHS to adopt a process for appealing the designation of their hospital stays as outpatient visits (Alexander v. Price, 2017 BL 265193, D. Conn., No. 3:11-cv-1703, 7/31/17).

The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut July 31 certified a nationwide class of Medicare beneficiaries—numbering in the hundreds of thousands at least—to assert a right to appeal their being put in “observation status” during a hospital stay rather than being designated as a regular inpatient.

The distinction matters greatly for beneficiaries, many of whom may not ...