The appeals court unanimously ruled that HHS did not have the authority to approve Arkansas' Medicaid work requirements, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Arkansas, the District of Columbia, and New Jersey.
- Arkansas: Fifteen Arkansas hospitals have filed a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and retailers claiming that the companies' "deceptive marketing techniques and the active evasion of effective controls over the distribution of opioids" have contributed to the state's opioid epidemic, according to Thomas Thrash, an attorney representing the hospitals. The hospitals filed the lawsuit against more than 40 companies and individuals that were involved in the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of prescription opioids, including Abbott Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson, and Purdue Pharma (Commins, HealthLeaders Media, 2/13).
- District of Columbia: A federal appeals court on Friday unanimously ruled against the Trump administration's approval of Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas. The panel ruled that HHS did not have the authority to require Medicaid enrollees to work to retain coverage and said the requirements conflicted with the goals of Medicaid. The decision does not impact work requirements in other states. According to Axios, the case likely will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court (Pradhan/Luthi, Politico, 2/14; Baker, Axios, 2/14).
- New Jersey: St. Joseph's University Medical Center has announced that it plans to use a $1.3 million state grant to establish an intervention program for shooting victims. The program will provide the victims with counseling and additional services when they arrive at the ED. Hospital officials said the program's objective is to prevent shooting victims from retaliating against their attackers (Malinconico, Paterson Press, 2/12).