Salem Hospital v. Rate Setting Commission

Aggrieved by the final Medicaid2 reimbursement rates set for it by the Rate Setting Commission,3 Salem Hospital appealed4 under G. L. c. 6A, § 36, to the Division of Adminis*324trative Law Appeals (DALA). An administrative magistrate, after hearing, concluded that the appeal to DALA did not lie because the hospital had failed first to ask the commission for administrative adjustments. In so deciding, the magistrate relied heavily upon Woodland Estates, Inc. v. Rate Setting Commn., 15 Mass. App. Ct. 297 (1983), and this appeal requires us to explore the boundaries of that opinion. More…