Fla. Med. Ass’n, Inc. v. Dep’t of Health, Educ., & Welfare (Summary)

MEDICARE REIMBURSEMENT

Fla. Med. Ass’n, Inc. v. Dep’t of Health, Educ., & Welfare, No. 3:78-CV-178-J-34MCR (M.D. Fla. May 31, 2013)

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida vacated an injunction issued in 1979 that permanently enjoined the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) from disclosing any list of Medicare reimbursement amounts that identifies providers of services.

The district court stated that the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”) would have allowed for an injunction that prevented a 1978 disclosure that was announced in 1977.  However, the 1979 injunction that permanently enjoined HHS from ever disclosing any list of reimbursement data that identified individual service providers was far-reaching and was never appropriate under the APA, and the injunction was still inappropriate years later.  Thus, vacating the injunction left the HHS policy in place, which states there is a compelling interest in knowing the individual payment amounts of service providers.