Government Prevails In UPL
Litigation
May 17, 2002- U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of Arkansas Judge Thomas Eisele May 13 issued a ruling
in favor of the government in the lawsuit that sought to halt
rules related to the Medicaid upper payment limit (UPL). The
AAMC and other organizations filed suit in March, seeking
an injunction against the federal government to halt the UPL
rules as arbitrary and capricious and would result in large
cuts to the Medicaid program. Judge Eisele found that the
plaintiff coalition had standing to challenge the regulation,
an acknowledgement of the direct and immediate harm that the
rule will cause the plaintiffs. He also acknowledged that
the argument that the UPL rule was arbitrary and capricious
and an abuse of the Secretary's discretion was "the one
that has been the most difficult for this Court to resolve."
Any possible resolution of this issue will now occur in Congress
where resolutions of disapproval of the regulation have been
introduced in both the House and Senate by Representative
Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.),
respectively (see related story).
Information:
Ivy Baer, Director & Regulatory Counsel
AAMC Health Care Affairs
ibaer@aamc.orc
(202) 828-0490
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