Trump Cuts to Medicare Drug Reimbursement Rates Get Upheld (1)

Trump-era cuts to the drug reimbursements given to hospitals serving low-income communities are valid under the Medicare statute, the D.C. federal appeals court ruled Friday, overturning a lower court and rejecting a challenge brought by the American Hospital Association and other hospital groups.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ decision to cut these hospitals’ reimbursement rates by nearly 30% is a reasonable exercise of the agency’s statutory authority, Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held.

The governing statute’s primary goal is reimbursing providers for their costs in acquiring certain ...