Maxwell-Jolly

Appellant California Association of Medical Products Suppliers (CAMPS) appeals from the trial court’s denial of its petition for a writ of mandate and complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief. CAMPS argues the trial court should have granted its petition, in which it sought the invalidation of regulations adopted in 2004 by respondent State Department of Health Care Services (Department). The regulations set upper billing limits for providers of durable medical equipment and certain medical supplies to Medi-Cal recipients.

According to the Department, these upper billing limit regulations (UBL) close a loophole in Medi-Cal regulations, under which some providers were purchasing discounted products, or obtaining them at no cost, and billing *292 Medi-Cal for reimbursement without taking into account the actual product purchase prices. As a result, they were able to obtain significant profits at taxpayer expense. The UBL closes this loophole by requiring providers to bill Medi-Cal based on the lesser of the usual charges made to the general public or, alternatively, the net purchase prices of the products as documented in the providers’ books and records plus no…