In September 2006, a federal district court judge agreed and issued an injunction ordering the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to immediately send a notice to all 230,000 beneficiaries stating that each has a right under federal law to request a waiver of the obligation to repay the funds. The judge added that any money already paid to the government "must be immediately returned to the beneficiaries so that they may decide whether to request waiver." The Department of Health and Human Services, of which CMS is a part, appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

More than two years after its original ruling, the appeals court now considers a second argument advanced by the seniors group -- that a provision in the Social Security statute allows the recipients to keep the money if returning it would be a hardship -  and rules that the provision in the law applies only to overpayments of actual Social Security benefits. Although the mistaken refunds of the Medicare Part D premium payments came from the Social Security Administration, they were not actual Social Security benefits, the court rules, and therefore don't qualify for the hardship provision.

 To read the entire article published by ElderLawAnswers, visit:

http://www.elderlawanswers.com/resources/article.asp?id=8421§ion=4

To read the appeals court's decision, click here.