LITIGATION

Barrows v. Becerra

Filed July 2017

Updates

Jan 2025
This case is in the implementation phase. For more information, see this FAQ and flowchart from the Center for Medicare Advocacy.
Jan 2022
A federal appeals court ruled that this national class of plaintiffs can appeal to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) when their hospital stay classifications are changed from “inpatient” to “observation status.” Read the Press Release.

About Barrows v. Becerra

Martha Leyanna of Delaware, described in the court’s decision, spent more than three days in the hospital, receiving identical care to that received by patients classified as inpatients, but because her care had been designated as “outpatient” observation services, Ms. Leyanna, who has since passed away, spent her entire savings of $10,000 for nursing home care.

Such classifications forced patients who couldn’t afford to pay for nursing home care to forgo required health care altogether because Medicare did not cover it. Prior to this decision, beneficiaries whose status was changed from inpatient to observation had no opportunity to appeal to Medicare. The trial court had found that this lack of appeals procedures violated the Due Process Clause of the constitution. The class is represented by the Center for Medicare Advocacy, Justice in Aging, and pro bono firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati.

The class is estimated to contain hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries with claims dating as far back as 2009.

© 2025 Justice in Aging

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