A federal judge has tossed a lawsuit brought by the American Clinical Laboratory Association alleging the U.S. government acted arbitrarily when it implemented new price reporting requirements for Medicare reimbursements, the news site Becker's Health Review reported.

ACLA sued the Department of Health and Human Services last year for a rule implementing a 2014 law concerning the method for determining Medicare payments for clinical diagnostic lab tests. The association contended the new HHS rule exempted more than 99 percent of hospital labs but not most of the independent labs the group represents.

In her decision, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said ACLA raised some good points. However, she sided with the agency's argument that Congress prevented judicial review of the payments policy when it passed the law. She therefore concluded the court doesn't have jurisdiction to resolve the dispute.

In a statement, ACLA President Julie Khani called the decision "an extremely disappointing outcome."

"While the District Court's opinion acknowledges that ACLA's ‘arguments on the merits raise important questions,' the District Court refused to consider those arguments, because it erroneously concluded that Congress had stripped it of jurisdiction to do so," Khani said.

Khani added the association is reviewing its legal options while urging members to Congress to address the issue. http://bit.ly/2xDKOAe

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