Bedford County General Hospital v. Heckler

Plaintiffs (eight nonprofit hospitals providing services to Medicare and other patients) appealed the summary judgment entered in favor of the Secretary and Health and Human Services (Secretary) in an action challenging the validity of a Medicare regulation. Specifically, plaintiffs contended below and on appeal that 42 C.F.R. § 405.310(j), which designated patients bedside telephones as "personal comfort items" precluded from reimbursement pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1395y(a)(6), is invalid because it allegedly: (1) conflicts with the legislative intent of the Medicare Act; (2) fails to comport with 42 U.S.C. § 1395x(b)(2) which provides that the reasonable cost of (reimbursable) inpatient hospital services includes, inter alia, "ordinarily furnished" hospital facilities, appliances, and equipment; and (3) was promulgated by the Secretary without consideration of relevant factors. The Secretary counters with the arguments that (1) federal courts do not have subject matter jurisdiction over the instant dispute; and (2) that the regulation is in any event valid.