Arbor Court Healthcare, LLC
v.
Iowa Department of Health and Human Services
Appellant
Arbor Court Healthcare, LLC
Appellee
Iowa Department of Health and Human Services
Attorney for the Appellant
Rebecca A. Brommel and Joshua D. Hughes
Attorney for the Appellee
Breanna A. Stoltze, Assistant Solicitor General, and Tyler Grimm and Patrick Valencia, Assistant Attorneys General
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie Vaudt, Judge. AFFIRMED. Heard by Greer, P.J., and Langholz and Sandy, JJ. Opinion by Sandy, J. Special concurrence by Greer, P.J. (17 pages)
Arbor Court Healthcare, LLC (Arbor Court) appeals the district court’s order affirming the final decision in its administrative appeal before the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Arbor Court contends that the district court (1) committed legal error in finding H.F. 891 barred HHS from rebasing Arbor Court’s Medicaid compensation rates based on a short period cost report, and alternatively, (2) H.F. 891’s prohibition on Arbor Court’s requested rebasing was unconstitutional as applied to Arbor Court. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s order, finding the district court committed no errors of law and Arbor Court held no property right in the short report process. SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: Unlike the majority, I would find Arbor Court preserved error on the issue of the application of H.F. 891 and consider the argument on the merits. But doing so would not lead me to a different result, as the application of HHS’s informal process as to Arbor Court could not be considered unreasonable, arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion.
