22 Nov Hospital associations file friend-of-the-court brief backing reform

ModernHealthcare.com | November 19 – An alliance of six associations representing U.S. hospitals formally filed a friend-of-the-court brief backing the Obama administration in the marquee lawsuit among several aiming to gut the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The American Hospital Association, Federation of American Hospitals, Association of American Medical Colleges, Catholic Health Association, National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, and the National Association of Children’s Hospitals filed their 22-page argument along with a flurry of others from a variety of government officials and organizations seeking to have a say in how the court comes down on the core questions to be considered: whether Congress has the authority to compel individuals to buy health insurance and whether the law unconstitutionally commandeers state Medicaid programs to achieve its goals.

“It is a decision about how to pay—or make others pay—for the services rendered,” the hospitals argue, regarding whether the decision to forgo health insurance represents economic activity that Congress has the power to regulate.

Judge Roger Vinson is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the merits of the case on Dec. 16 in U.S. District Court in Pensacola, Fla. The suit was brought by elected officials representing 20 states.

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