Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Federal Judge Clears Way For Sharp Cuts To Medicare's 340B Program
The Wall Street Journal: Judge Dismisses Hospital-Industry Suit That Attempted To Stop Medicare-Subsidy Cuts
A federal judge in Washington ruled the Trump administration can make sharp cuts to subsidies Medicare pays some hospitals for pharmaceuticals, a blow to the American Hospital Association and others fighting in court and Congress to halt the reductions. The hospital association and two other health-care trade groups had filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services in an attempt to stop the cuts. But U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras on Friday dismissed the case, saying the plaintiffs cannot sue before exhausting other avenues to challenge the cuts, as required by law. The other trade-group plaintiffs were the Association of American Medical Colleges and America’s Essential Hospitals. (Evans, 12/29)
Stat: Cuts To 340B Hospital Payments To Proceed After Judge Dismisses Lawsuit
A federal judge has declined to block a $1.6 billion cut to hospital payments under Medicare’s so-called 340B program, which lets some facilities buy discounted drugs. The cut takes effect Jan. 1. The ruling came in response to a Trump administration motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the American Hospital Association and some not-for-profit and public hospitals earlier this year. Judge Rudolph Contreras said that his court doesn’t have jurisdiction to rule on the issue because the plaintiffs did not first exhaust the Department of Health and Human Services review process for their complaint, as Medicare statute requires. (Mershon, 12/29)
