Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals v. Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services

CLEMENT, Circuit Judge:

This appeal arises following the determination, by the Administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, that Rural Health Clinics in Louisiana do not furnish “hospital services”, and hence are not eligible for certain reimbursements. Because we find that interpretation to be unreasonable, we REVERSE.

I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

A. Statutory and regulatory background(1) The Medicaid program

Medicaid is designed to enable states to offer medical assistance to certain low-income, elderly, and disabled individuals whose income and resources are inadequate to pay…