THE VALUED VOICE

On October 16, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined to take up appeals from the American Hospital Association (AHA) to reconsider recent decisions on the legality of cuts to 340B hospitals and hospital outpatient departments – also known as site-neutral payments.
 
Both of these issues have been key advocacy areas of WHA a number of years and together have an estimated $80 million negative annual impact on Wisconsin hospitals and health systems.
 
While AHA had previously prevailed in court on both issues in 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) appealed both and three-judge panels ruled in HHS’ favor regarding 340B on July 17 and regarding site-neutral payments on July 31. In both cases, the court cited the Chevron deference doctrine in which the courts give wide deference to federal agencies in administrative rulemaking so long as the court finds they are rational or reasonable.
 
The AHA has said it is currently evaluating bringing both of these cases to the U.S. Supreme Court. For more information, contact WHA’s Vice President of Federal and State Relations, Jon Hoelter.