In a 7-1 decision released June 3, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a proposal of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that would have had the effect of significantly reducing Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments to thousands of hospitals for care furnished to low income patients in 2012.

In Azar v. Allina Health Services, Et Al., the Supreme Court held that HHS needed to comply with statutory notice and comment rulemaking procedures under the Social Security Act (Act) when making interpretive changes, because HHS sought to establish or change substantive legal standards.  As a result, HHS was required to publish its proposal to change the DSH payment calculations for 2012 for notice and comment, and its unilateral determination regarding the calculation of those payments was invalid.
Continue Reading Supreme Court Rejects HHS Proposal that Could Have Significantly Lowered Certain Medicare DSH Payments to Hospitals