St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Lewiston is suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for withholding Medicare payments in a dispute over pandemic-related funding.
In the complaint, St Mary's acknowledges that it failed to submit two reports on its use of pandemic funding on time because of a change in personnel.
But the health system said after it discovered the problem, it notified HHS and was told the matter was resolved. Then in December, St Mary's officials said, HHS officials ordered them to repay the $5.6 million associated with the late reports, and began withholding federal payments, including Medicare, to recoup the money.
St Mary's alleges that withholding the payments is unlawful because its use of pandemic funds were appropriate and merely reported late.
In its lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Maine last Friday, St Mary's said it had less than 10 days of cash on hand and the Lewiston-Auburn community depends on the viability of the health system. It's asking the court to temporarily allow federal payments to continue, and to rule that it does not need to repay the pandemic-related funds.
