The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a lower court ruling that found that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services did not undercalculate hospitals’ Medicare disproportionate share payments between 2006 and 2009.
In the suit, more than 200 hospitals argued that the calculation of Medicare DSH payments should be based on all hospitalized patients who qualify for both Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicare. The Supreme Court disagreed, confirming in a 7-2 decision the ruling of lower courts that SSI should only be included in DSH calculations when Medicare patients receive SSI payments during the same month they are admitted to the hospital.
Learn more from the Supreme Court decision in this case. Find further analysis in the Fierce Healthcare article “US Supreme Court sides with HHS in Medicare DSH payments case” and the Healthcare Dive report “Supreme Court rules against hospitals in DSH formula case.”