No review of Medicare review

A home health care provider, feeling trapped by Medicare’s slow and complex administrative review process, sought relief in court. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the denial of its application for an injunction, observing: “The Constitution entrusts the political branches, not the judiciary, with making difficult and value-laden policy decisions. There were an infinite number of schemes Congress could have reasonably selected. Congress settled on one that guarantees at least two levels of administrative review and judicial review. And in the case of a backlog, Congress provided the ability to bypass long waits on the way to judicial review. Sahara rejected that option. At bottom, Sahara  believes a different scheme would be better. But we lack the power to change it.” Sahara Health Care v. Azar, No. 18-41120 (Sept. 18, 2020) (emphasis added).

The opinion also provides an original source for the saying, “[t]he best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry” —