U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle sided with the Texas Medical Association that parts of the independent dispute resolution in the surprise billing final rule are in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.
In a Feb. 6 decision, the court found that the final rule doesn't meet the legal confines of the "unambiguous" statute by making the qualifying payment amount the predominant factor used in payment disputes, according to a Feb. 10 release from the American Medical Association.
The lawsuit is the second of four the Texas Hospital Association has filed against the federal government over the No Surprises Act.
The weighting of qualifying payment amount in settling payment disputes is not in line with the text of the No Surprises Act, according to Judge Kernondle. The ruling was supported by the American College of Radiology, which called it a "major victory for patients and physicians," according to a Feb. 8 report from Radiology Business.