Lewiston, Maine-based St. Mary’s Health System has filed a motion to dismiss its lawsuit against HHS, which accused the department of unlawfully withholding Medicare payments from the cash-strapped system, the Sun Journal reported May 14.
In a one-page motion, St. Mary’s said it is giving notice of a voluntary dismissal with prejudice of the complaint against HHS, which it said has “not served an answer or motion for summary judgment,” according to the report. The motion did not explain why the system is seeking the dismissal.
The lawsuit, filed in January, was related to COVID-19 pandemic relief funds. Those funds carried mandatory reporting requirements, but the health system missed the deadline for two of those payments. St. Mary’s blamed the missed deadline on a change in personnel.
The system said that after discovering the missed deadlines, it notified HHS and was told the matter was resolved. But in December, HHS allegedly ordered St. Mary’s to repay the $5.6 million associated with the late reports and began withholding federal payments, including Medicare, to recover the funds.
St. Mary’s argued that HHS’ action was unlawful because it used the relief funds appropriately and only filed the reports late.
