The Supreme Court sided on Tuesday with the Department of Health and Human Services in a dispute over the rate under Medicare the government pays to hospitals that serve low-income patients.
The 7-2 decision rejected an attempt from a group of more than 200 hospitals across 30 states to change the formula the government uses to calculate reimbursement for hospitals that serve a disproportionate share of low-income patients.
The justices decided that the calculation hinges on how many patients received Social Security Supplemental Security Income program benefits in a given month, rather than the larger group that are enrolled in the program generally.
