Court says judge had no authority to halt Medicare Advantage plan for Delaware government retirees

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Delaware’s Supreme Court has overturned a lower court ruling that prevented officials from moving state government retirees from a Medicare supplement plan to a Medicare Advantage plan.

The justices ruled Friday that a Superior Court judge had no jurisdiction to enter the stay because he wrongly determined that the state panel that approved the Medicare Advantage plan had violated the state’s Administrative Procedures Act. The selection of a particular Medicare plan is not a regulation subject to APA notice and public hearing requirements, and the judge therefore had no jurisdiction under the APA to halt the plan, the court said.

Justice Abigail LeGrow, writing for a three-judge panel, said a regulation under the APA is a statement of law, procedure or policy that is used as a rule or standard to guide, regulate, or act as a model for future action. The choice of a Medicare plan does not fall within the plain meaning of those terms, she said.

“Accordingly, the Superior Court did not have jurisdiction to enter the challenged stay, and we reverse the decision on appeal,” LeGrow wrote. “The important policy considerations that attend the selection of healthcare coverage for state retirees are questions appropriately addressed to the legislative and executive branches.”

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