Puerto Rico’s attempts to address a public health crisis struck down by the United States Court of Appeals for the first circuit
Date
2023-04-11
Authors
Kim, Minji
Version
Published version
OA Version
Citation
Kim M. Puerto Rico’s Attempts to Address a Public Health Crisis Struck Down by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. American Journal of Law & Medicine. 2022;48(4):481-486. doi:10.1017/amj.2023.10
Abstract
This RCD discusses a recent decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit that struck down Puerto Rico’s Act 90-2019, which aimed to regulate pay structures for Medicare Advantage insurers in Puerto Rico. The court found that the provision in Act 90, known as the “Mandated Price Provision,” is preempted by federal law. However, the author argues that the court’s decision did not adequately consider the congressional intent of the Medicare Advantage Act in weighing the public health crisis in Puerto Rico. The RCD provides background on the Medicare Advantage program and Act 90 and explains how Act 90 aimed to eliminate insurers’ practice of paying providers at rates below the CMS’s minimum reimbursement rates under the traditional Medicare program. The article concludes that the court’s decision inadequately considered the larger purpose of the Medicare Advantage Act and the relevant public health crisis in Puerto Rico.
Description
License
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. This article has been published under a Read & Publish Transformative Open Access (OA) Agreement with CUP.