Healthcare Regulation After Loper Bright and Corner Post: Agency Implications, Litigation Challenges, Client Impact

Description

Two notable decisions at the end of the recent U.S. Supreme Court term, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Corner Post v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System will have a significant impact on federal agency rulemaking, rule implementation, and legal challenges to federal rules. Healthcare counsel, in an industry highly regulated by federal agencies such as HHS, FDA, and CMS, should understand the implications of these rulings and how their clients may be affected.

Loper Bright overruled the Chevron doctrine which, for 40 years, has served as the two-step framework for federal courts in deciding disputes between federal agencies and private parties challenging agency regulations. Under Chevron, courts would first ask whether Congress had "directly spoken to the precise question at issue" in the statute. If not, the courts were required to defer to the agency's interpretation as long as it was reasonable. While the Chevron doctrine has been chipped away over the years, Loper Bright has now formally overruled Chevron and put the task of interpreting statutory provisions back into the hands of federal courts.

Corner Post has increased agency exposure to suits by redefining when the statute of limitations period begins during which rules may be challenged. The Court held that the six-year statute of limitations for suits against the federal government begins to run only once the plaintiff has been injured, a significant change from the prior stance that the six-year period began once the rule was published. Therefore, entities formed within the last six years may challenge regulations that have stood for decades.

Listen as our expert panel guides practitioners through the recent Loper Bright and Corner Post decisions and discusses the impact on the healthcare industry where new challenges to longstanding regulations may be brought, even if they had previously been upheld under Chevron. The panel will also discuss potential client impact.