Am. Hosp. Ass'n v. Azar

RUDOLPH CONTRERAS, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

This action concerns whether the Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") acted lawfully when it reduced Medicare payments worth billions of dollars to private institutions, to correct what it views as a fundamental misalignment of Medicare programs. Plaintiffs, a group of hospital associations and non-profit hospitals,1 contend that HHS exceeded its statutory *67authority when it cut Medicare reimbursement rates for certain outpatient pharmaceutical drugs by nearly 30%. Defendants, HHS and its Secretary, contend that the rate…