Judge: HHS Mistakenly Envisioned ACA Risk-Adjustment Program As Budget Neutral

Mealey's (March 2, 2018, 2:46 PM EST) -- ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The government created a rule governing Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) risk-adjustment charges without explaining how it reached the decision, and apparently based it on an erroneous conclusion that the law required budget neutrality, a federal judge in New Mexico held Feb. 28 in finding the rule arbitrary and capricious (N.M. Health Connections v. United States HHS, No. 16-0878, D. N.M., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32908)....