Appeals court dismisses challenge to doctor-owned hospital expansion limit in health law

Aug 20 2012

An appeals court has dismissed a challenge to a part of the health law that limits expansion of doctor-owned hospitals on grounds that a lower court that issued an earlier ruling didn't have jurisdiction in the case.

Modern Healthcare: Court Dismisses Challenge To Reform Law's Limit On Expansion Of Doc-Owned Hospitals
The Obama administration scored a victory when the U.S. Court of Appeals in Houston dismissed an appeal from the Physician Hospitals of America and the Tyler, Texas-based Texas Spine & Joint Hospital challenging a health care reform law restriction on expansion by physician-owned hospitals. The appeals court ruled that the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction in the case (McKinney, 8/17).

CQ HealthBeat: Appeals Court Dismisses Challenge Of Health Law Curb On Specialty Hospitals
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling this week dismissing a challenge to a provision of the health care law curbing the expansion of physician-owned hospitals. Judge Leslie H. Southwick said in the court's decision that a lower court hearing the challenge lacked jurisdiction in the case, which was filed by a trade group and a doctor-owned hospital. The facility, Texas Spine and Joint Hospital, was in the process of expanding and was unable to complete the effort before a cutoff date in the law (8/20).