the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Hackensack NJ, in the wake of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the “Chevron Doctrine,” Hackensack Meridian Health wasted no time in taking legal action against federal regulators. The health network, which operates 18 hospitals across New Jersey, has filed a lawsuit against the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), claiming that faulty reimbursement calculations have cost three of its hospitals nearly $600,000.
The Supreme Court overturned the “Chevron Doctrine”, which unconstitutionally delegated to unelected bureaucrats the power to expand and enforce laws and regulations not explicitly approved by Congress.
The Court ruled that a six-year statute of limitations barring outside groups from suing the federal government over regulations only starts for a specific plaintiff when the regulation first applies to them.
Immediate Response to Supreme Court Decision
Hackensack Meridian Health filed the lawsuit in federal court in Washington on Friday, just hours after the Supreme Court delivered one of its most significant rulings of the term. The decision, made by a 6-3 vote along ideological lines, effectively limits the power of federal regulators by overturning the 1984 Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council decision. For nearly 40 years, the Chevron Doctrine had guided courts to defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of laws, provided those interpretations were deemed reasonable.
Implications of the Ruling
The recent ruling has sparked a debate between critics and supporters. Critics argue that it diminishes the role of experts, especially scientists, who develop complex regulations based on legislative intent. Conversely, supporters believe it curbs government overreach, ensuring a level playing field in court disputes.
Hackensack Meridian’s Legal Challenge
Hackensack Meridian Health’s lawsuit directly references the Supreme Court’s ruling on its second page. “With the Chevron deference overruled, courts may no longer routinely uphold the decisions of agencies in technical fields simply because of the complexity of the statutory schemes they oversee,” the lawsuit states. It further asserts that Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra’s interpretation of relevant statutes is “irrational and unlawful,” resulting in the network’s hospitals being underpaid.
Specific Claims Against CMS
The lawsuit details that CMS’s reimbursement calculations for Hackensack University Medical Center, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, and Raritan Bay Medical Center led to a shortfall of $584,000 in 2016 alone. Hackensack Meridian contends that these miscalculations have deprived its hospitals of the reimbursements they are rightfully due.
Official Response
A spokesperson for CMS declined to comment on the pending litigation, following standard protocol for ongoing legal matters.
Moving Forward
As Hackensack Meridian Health pursues its lawsuit, the broader implications of the Supreme Court’s ruling will likely continue to unfold. This case marks one of the first major challenges leveraging the new legal landscape, potentially setting a precedent for how federal regulatory interpretations are contested in the future.
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This Chevron ruling should trickle down to the elderly and their families who because of age alone, not a terminal illness, that unelected regulators chose who lives and dies because of ageism! Who gets proper care and who doesn’t, because of age.
Don’t believe that the HMH hospitals are victims, they’re in compliance.
What? You don’t trust experts and scientists, especially scientists? Are you a science denier? They don’t call them experts for nothing — they’re smarter and more informed than you are, and these so-called unelected regulators are only determining policy based on the experts’ purely objective, scientifically derived recommendations.
No one is choosing “who lives and who dies” — that sounds a lot like Sarah Palin’s conspiracy theory death panel bunk. Unbiased, scientifically-minded people are simply advocating for more prudent choices to be made with respect to who receives care, how much care they receive, and why they receive that care. Health care is extremely expensive and resources are very limited; care must first be channeled to individuals who are capable of being productive, tax paying members of society. It’s just good governance, good science and good economics.
in this day and age if you believe anybody on the media its like thinking strippers like you at a strip club