HOMEMAKERS NORTH SHORE, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Otis R. BOWEN, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Defendant-Appellee

EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge.

Providers of medical services under the Medicare program, 42 U.S.C. § 1395, et seq., usually receive reimbursement for the “customary charge” for the services, not to exceed the “reasonable cost of providing them, as the Secretary of Health and Human Services reckons “cost”, 42 U.S.C. § 1395f(b), § 1395x(v)(l)(A). Nursing services usually are reimbursed at a fixed price per service. A provider that can supply care for less makes a profit, and a provider that cannot suffers a loss.

Since 1979 the Secretary also has allowed fledgling providers of home nursing services…