Remember July 1, 2013? Providers across North Carolina probably still suffer PTSD at the mention of the “go-live” date for NCTracks.  If you remember July 1, 2013, you probably also remember that my former firm filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of the physicians in NC who suffered losses from NCTracks’ inception.

There was oral argument at the NC Business Court.

Judge McGuire, of the NC Business Court, dismissed the NCTracks class action lawsuit stating the providers failed to exhaust the administrative remedies.  The Order reads, in part:

“Ultimately, the burden of proving that administrative remedies are inadequate in this action rests on Plaintiffs.  Jackson, 131 N.C. App. at 186.  Although sympathetic to the apparently difficult administrative process, the Court concludes that, particularly in light of the fact that not a single Plaintiff has attempted to use the available administrative procedures to resolve their Medicaid reimbursement claims, Plaintiffs have simply failed to satisfy this burden.  Accordingly, Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) should be GRANTED.”

While I understand the logic applied to come to this decision, I do not necessarily agree with the outcome.  There are exceptions to the exhaustion of administrative remedies, which, in my humble opinion, are present here.

(This blog contains my own opinions as to the NCTracks ruling and not those of my present or former firms.  It is not intended to claim any ruling was incorrect or inconsistent with case law, rules, and statutes).

(Try to read the foregoing sentences in a fast-paced, tiny, whispery voice, like a pharmaceutical commercial).

Regardless, where does this decision leave the physicians in NC who suffered under an, admittedly, botched, beginning of NCTracks? (Even DHHS recognized the imperfections at the beginning).

First, what is the doctrine of failure of administrative remedies? (I was going to start with what is NCTracks, but you do not know what NCTracks is, you probably should begin reading some of my earlier blog posts: blog; and blog; and blog).

In a nutshell, the exhaustion doctrine dictates that if a party disagrees with an adverse action of a state agency that the party must exhaust its administrative remedies before asking for relief from a civil court judge.

What?

Law 101: The Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) has limited jurisdiction. It only has jurisdiction over those matters specifically granted to it by statute. If you have an issue with a final adverse decision of a state agency, you sue at OAH. In other words, if you want to sue a state agency, such as DHHS, or any of its agents, like an MCO, you sue at OAH, not Superior Court.  An Administrative Law Judge, or ALJ, presides over the court.  While OAH is more informal than Superior Court, OAH follows the rules of civil procedure unless an administrative rule exists.

If a Superior Court were to find that the party failed to exhaust its administrative remedies, then the court would find that the party lacked subject matter jurisdiction; i.e., the court is holding that it does not have the authority to determine the legal question at issue.

You would be back to square one, and, potentially, miss an appeal deadline.

In the Medicaid world this is similar to a managed care organization (MCO) having an informal review process internally which would be required prior to bringing a Petition for Judicial Review at OAH.

Were you to bring a Petition for Judicial Review at OAH prior to attending an informal reconsideration review at the MCO, the ALJ would, most likely, dismiss the case for failure to exhaust your administrative remedies.

But in the NCTracks case, the Plaintiffs sued DHHS and Computer Science Corporation (CSC).  CSC is, arguably, not a state agency. The only way in which you could sue CSC at OAH would be for an ALJ to determine that CSC is an agent of a state agency.  And, who knows? Maybe CSC is an agent of DHHS.  Judge McGuire does not address this issue in his Order.

Many of you may wonder why I opine that CSC is not an agent of the state, yet surmise that the MCOs are agents of DHHS.  Here is my reasoning: DHHS, in order to bestow or delegate its powers of administering behavioral health to the MCOs, was required to request a Waiver from the federal government.  Unlike with CSC, DHHS merely contracted with CSC; no Waiver was required.  That Waiver (two Waivers, really, the 1915(b) and 1915(c)) allow the MCOs to step into the shoes of DHHS….to a degree…and only as far as was requested and approved by CMS…no more.  I view CSC as a contractor or vendor of DHHS, while the MCOs are limited agents.

Going back to NCTracks…

One can surmise that, because Judge McGuire dismissed the entire lawsuit and did not keep CSC as a party, Judge McGuire opined that CSC is an agent of DHHS.  But there is a possibility that the providers sue in OAH and an ALJ determines that OAH is not a proper venue for CSC.  Then what? Back to Superior Court and/or Business Court?

Why do you have to exhaust your administrative remedies? It does seem too burdensome to jump through all the hoops.

The rationale behind requiring parties to exhaust their administrative remedies is that those entities (such as OAH) that hear these specialized cases over and over and develop an expertise to decide the certain esoteric matters that arise under their jurisdiction. Also, the doctrine of separation of powers dictates that an agency created by Congress should be allowed to carry out its duties without undue interference from the judiciary.

For example, Judges Don Overby and Melissa Lassiter, ALJs at the NC OAH have, without question, presided over more Medicaid cases than any Superior Court Judge in the state (unless a Superior Court is a former ALJ, like Judge Beecher Gray).  The thinking is that, since Overby and Lassiter, or, ALJs, generally, have presided over more Medicaid cases than the average judge, that the ALJs have formed expertise in area.  Which is probably true.  It cannot be helped.  When you hear the same arguments over and over, you tend to research the answers and form an opinion.

So there is the “why,” what about the exceptions?

There are exceptions to the general rule of having to exhaust your administrative remedies that may or may not be present in the NC tracks case.  If you ask me, exceptions are present. If you ask Judge McGuire vis-à-vis his Order, there are no exceptions that were applicable.

One such exception to the general rule that you must exhaust your administrative remedies is if bringing a case at the informal administrative level would be futile.  If you can prove futility, then you are not required to exhaust your administrative remedies. Another exception is if you are requesting monetary damages that cannot be awarded at the administrative law level.

Where the administrative remedy is inadequate, a plaintiff is not required to exhaust that remedy before turning to the courts. Shell Island, 134 N.C. App. at 222. The burden of establishing the inadequacy of an administrative remedy is on the party asserting inadequacy. Huang v. N.C. State Univ., 107 N.C. App. 110, 115 (1992).

What DHHS argued, in order to have the case dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and Judge McGuire agreed with, is:

that adequate administrative remedies exist for all health care providers when NCTracks improperly denies claims.

This holding is not without questions.

Some providers re-bill denied claims over and over.  There is a question as to when do you appeal?  The first denial? The second? The Fourteenth?  At which point do you accept the denial from NCTracks as a “final agency decision?”  Do you use the “3 strikes and you’re out” rule?  Do you give NCTracks a mulligan? Or do you wait until NCTracks “fouls out” with a 6th denial?

Another question that remains hanging in the wake of the NCTracks dismissal is how will providers handle the sheer volume of denials. Some providers receive voluminous denials.  Some RAs can be hundreds of pages long.

Let’s contemplate this argument in a hypothetical.  You run a nephrology practice.  The bulk of your patients are Medicaid (90% Medicaid, although 50% are dual eligible with Medicaid/Medicare). You have approximately 500-700 patients, who come see your doctors because they are in need of dialysis.  You know that if a person does not receive dialysis that there is a chance that the person can enter Stage 5 (end stage renal disease) and die quickly. However, upon July 1, 2013, when NCTracks went live, you stopped receiving Medicaid payments completely.  Do you stop accepting and treating your Medicaid patients? Obviously you do not stop accepting Medicaid patients?  But your practice cannot sustain itself.  Even if you continue to treat Medicaid patients, at some point, you will  be out of business, failing to meet payroll, and being forced to involuntarily not treat your patients.

Your patients in need of dialysis come to the office 3x per week.  A single hemodialysis treatment typically costs up to $500 or more — or, about $72,000 or more per year for the typical three treatments per week.

Let’s approximate with 500 patients.  500 patients multiplied by 3x per week is 1,500 per week. That is 1,500 denials per week.  What Judge McGuire is saying is that your office is burdened with appealing 1,500 denials per week.  Or 6,000 denials per  month. Or 72,000 appeals per year.

Which of your office staff will be charged with appealing at OAH 72,000 denials per year? The physicians?  You, the office manager (because you obviously have nothing else to do)?  The receptionist? Hire someone new?  For how much?  How will you recoup the cost of appealing 72,000 denials per year?  How many hours does it cost to appeal one?  Hire an attorney?

Obviously, my example is one of an extreme case with 100% denials. But the sentiment holds true even for 30%, 40%, or 50% of denials. The sheer volume would be overwhelming.

And you can imagine the backlog that would be created at OAH.

Judge McGuire’s decision that plaintiffs failed to exhaust their administrative remedies issue appears to be based, in part, that because no plaintiff had tried to go to OAH, plaintiffs could not convince him that the administrative remedy was non-functional.

“Significantly, none of the Plaintiffs even attempted to use the administrative procedures to address the failure to pay claims and other issues they allegedly encountered in attempting to use NCTracks. Instead, Plaintiffs allege that the administrative process would have been futile and inadequate to provide the relief they seek.”  See Abrons Family Practice v. DHHS and CSC, ¶ 36 (emphasis added).

What now?

Well, first of all, when I moved to Gordon & Rees, I left this case in the capable hands of my former partners, so I have no special intelligence, but I wager that this is not the end.

There are choices. They could:

(1) Appeal the decision to the Court of Appeals;

(2) File an insurmountable number of petition’s at OAH; or

(3) Do nothing.

For some reason, I have my doubts that #3 will occur.

What do you think???  What should the Plaintiffs do now in the wake of this dismissal?