Martin

Martin v. Levitt

Good Law
205 F. App'x 611
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitNovember 14, 2006No. 05-16253California313 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM ***

Neil Martin appeals pro se from the district court’s order granting summary judgment and dismissing his complaint challenging the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ (the “Secretary”) denial of his application for Medicare reimbursement. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

We review de novo a district court’s decision upholding the Secretary’s denial of benefits and must uphold the Secretary’s decision if it is supported by substantial evidence and free of legal error. Andrews v. Shalala, 53 F.3d 1035 , 1039-40 & n. 1 (9th Cir.1995). We affirm.

The district court properly held that the Secretary’s decision was supported by substantial evidence. The out-of-plan services Martin received from two naturopaths do not qualify as “physician services.” See 42 U.S.C. § 1395x(q) and (r). In addition, the services Martin received do not constitute services “furnished as an incident to a physician’s professional service” under 42 U.S.C. § 1395x(s)(2)(A) because there is no evidence that a physician directly supervised the naturopaths who provided the services. See 42 C.F.R. § 405.2413 (a)(4). Finally, the medications Martin received are not reimbursable…

Sign in to read the full opinion

Create a free account to read the complete opinion text, citation history, and good-law status for this case.