A federal judge has upheld a lower court’s ruling that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) exceeded its statutory authority when it reduced the 2018 Medicare reimbursement rate for drugs covered by the federal 340B Program. 

U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras, sitting in the District of Columbia, issued the ruling recently in the matter of American Hospital Association v. Alex M. Azar, HHS Secretary, ordering HHS back to the drawing board and warning it to act with haste to make a correction. 

Reporting our lead story during this edition of Monitor Mondays is RACmonitor national correspondent Timothy Powell. 

Other segments to appear on the broadcast include:

• Court Report: Two more pharmaceutical companies have agreed to pay $125 million to resolve allegations that they paid kickbacks through co-pay assistance foundations. Famed whistleblower attorney Mary Inman has an update on this story, which she first reported on April 15. Inman is a partner in the London office of Constantine Cannon. 
  
  
• Monday Focus: What are the issues when trying to project the results of an audit to a larger population of providers? Senior healthcare analyst Frank Cohen with DoctorsManagement reports on the myth surrounding pass/fail rates for providers. 
   
• Hot Topics: Monitor Mondays senior correspondent Nancy Beckley, president and CEO of Nancy Beckley and Associates, reports on all the latest hot topics and will also conduct the Monitor Mondays Listener Survey.  
   
• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser returns to Monitor Mondays with his popular segment, in which he reports on problematic issues facing providers. 
  • Link for Davids segment:  The new guidance about co-location of space in hospital-based space, New DOJ guidance about Cooperation in False Claims Act Cases
• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, makes his Monday Rounds with another installment of his popular segment. 
  • Links for Dr. Hirsch's segment:  PREOPERATIVE MEDICAL TESTING BEFORE CATARACT SURGERY,  Reduce Low-Value Preoperative Care