Prime Healthcare Servs. v. Humana Ins. Co.

Defendant Humana Insurance Company ("Defendant" or "Humana") has filed a Motion to Dismiss the Plaintiffs Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. et al.'s 1 ("Plaintiffs")

*1318 Fourth Amended Complaint ("4AC"). (Doc. No. 83.) Plaintiffs filed their Opposition on February 26, 2018 (Doc. No. 84) and Defendant filed its Reply on March 5, 2018 (Doc. No. 85).

On March 14, 2018, Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Leave to File a Sur-Reply to Defendants' Reply. (Doc. No. 86.)

The Court determined Defendants' Motion to be appropriate for resolution without oral argument pursuant to Local Rule 7-15 and vacated the hearing originally set for March 19, 2018. (Doc. No. 87.) After considering all papers filed in support of and in opposition to Defendant's Motion, the Court rules as follows.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. THE MEDICARE ACT

The Medicare Act (hereinafter, the "Act" or "Medicare") was enacted in 1965 as a federal health insurance program primarily benefitting those 65 years of age and older. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 1395 et seq. Courts in this district have noted that the Act has been described as "among the most completely impenetrable texts within human experience," requiring "dense…