Supreme Court Decision Curtails Power of Federal Agencies: Significant Implications for Health Policy

In a major ruling on June 28, the Supreme Court cut back sharply on the power of federal agencies to interpret the laws they administer and ruled that courts should rely on their own interpretation of ambiguous laws. The decision will likely have far-reaching effects across the country, from health policy to environmental regulation. The Supreme Court says individual judges around the country should decide the best reading of a statute.

Kym Meyer, the litigation director for the Southern Environmental Law Center, states: “That is a recipe for chaos, as hundreds of federal judges—who lack the expertise of agency personnel—are certain to reach inconsistent results on the meaning of federal laws as applied to complex, technical issues.”

The decision does not immediately change any specific health-care policy, but over time all health-care stakeholders will see the impact of the reduced significance of notice-and-comment rulemaking in areas where federal law is silent or unclear.