Leavitt
St. Joseph Hospital v. Leavitt
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
St. Joseph Hospital (StJoseph) appeals from the final judgment of the district court denying its petition for judicial review of the Provider Reimbursement Review Board’s (PRRB) final decision in favor of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (Secretary). We affirm the decision of the district court that the Secretary’s determination to deny St. Joseph’s request for an exception to its prospective reimbursement rate was neither arbitrary nor capricious and was supported by substantial evidence. See 5 U.S.C. § 706 (2).
To qualify for an exception to its prospective payment rate based on “[ajtypical service intensity,” see 42 C.F.R. §§ 413.182 (a), 413.184(a) (2001), St. Joseph was required, among other things, to *58 “[sjubmit documentation on costs of nursing personnel ... showing — (A) Amount each employee was paid; (B) Number of personnel; (C) Amount of time spent in the dialysis unit; and (D) Staff-to-patient ratio based on total hours, with an analysis of productive and nonproductive hours.” Id. § 413.184(b)(2)(i). In its recommendation that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) deny St. Joseph’s exception request, the…