McArthur likened the situation to a car needing gasoline to function, arguing that while the car uses gasoline, it does not mean gasoline is part of the car itself. “My car needs gasoline to run,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that gasoline is part of my car, that means my car uses gasoline to run down the road.”
The panel, which included Judges W. Eugene Davis, James E. Graves Jr., and Cory T. Wilson, will continue to evaluate the case. The outcome could have significant implications for how CMS applies its policies to different medical specialties.
The anesthesia practices are represented by attorneys from Sidley Austin LLP, including Eric D. McArthur, Brenna E. Jenny, Cody M. Akins, and Hundley Poulson. The U.S. government is represented by lawyers from the Department of Justice’s Civil Division and in-house counsel for the Department of Health and Human Services.
The case is U.S. Anesthesia Partners of Texas et al. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services et al., case number 24-10384, before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
