Association of American Medical Colleges v. United States

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

I.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. Overview

Plaintiffs in this action are the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, and other organizations involved in the development of national policy affecting payment to medical teaching institutions and physicians (“Association Plaintiffs”); and several University of California Schools of Medicine, Loma Linda University Health care, Inc., and other teaching hospitals and institutions throughout the United States (“Non-Association Plaintiffs”).

Defendant is the United States, acting through the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”), the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), and the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”).

In brief, Defendant is auditing the conduct of physicians at teaching hospitals (the “PATH” audits or initiative) by examining a sample of their billings between 1992 and 1996. Plaintiff alleges that in so doing, Defendant is imposing rules that were not promulgated in accordance with statutory requirements, or were not promulgated prior to the audit period. Plaintiffs further allege that if Defendant believes…