STAT+: Judges skewer HHS arguments in hearing over Medicare Advantage audits lawsuit
Federal judges pushed back against the government's arguments in a Medicare Advantage case.
Federal appeals court judges strongly disagreed with the Trump administration's arguments in a hearing related to Humana's lawsuit against the government over Medicare Advantage plan audits. The lawsuit, Humana v. Kennedy, was filed in 2023, with Humana claiming that the Health and Human Services Department's final rule for auditing Medicare Advantage plans significantly differed from the proposed rule and that stakeholders were not provided with sufficient notice or the chance to comment on the change.
This change, known as the risk adjustment data validation, or RADV, rule, was invalidated by a federal judge in September 2025. HHS appealed the decision in November. During Monday's oral arguments at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the three-judge panel appeared set to dismiss the rule once again.
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