United States Court of Appeals 

for the Federal Circuit ______________________ 

LAND OF LINCOLN MUTUAL HEALTH 

INSURANCE COMPANY, AN ILLINOIS NONPROFIT MUTUAL INSURANCE CORPORATION,

Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

UNITED STATES,

Defendant-Appellee

______________________ 

2017-1224

______________________ 

Appeal from the United States Court of Federal 

Claims in No. 1:16-cv-00744-CFL, Judge Charles F. 

Lettow. 

______________________ 

Decided: June 14, 2018

______________________ 

 JONATHAN MASSEY, Massey & Gail LLP, Washington, 

DC, argued for plaintiff-appellant. Also represented by 

DANIEL P. ALBERS, Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Chicago, IL;

SCOTT E. PICKENS, Washington, DC. 

 ALISA BETH KLEIN, Appellate Staff, Civil Division, 

United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, 

argued for defendant-appellee. Also represented by CHAD 

A. READLER, AUGUST E. FLENTJE, MARK B. STERN,

CARLEEN MARY ZUBRZYCKI. 
2 LAND OF LINCOLN MUTUAL HEALTH v. UNITED STATES

 BARAK BASSMAN, Pepper Hamilton LLP, Philadelphia, 

PA, for amicus curiae National Alliance of State Health 

CO-Ops. Also represented by MARC D. MACHLIN, Washington, DC.

 LAWRENCE SHER, Reed Smith LLP, Washington, DC, 

for amici curiae Highmark Inc., Highmark BCBSD Inc., 

Highmark West Virginia Inc., Blue Cross and Blue Shield 

of North Carolina, Blue Cross of Idaho Health Service, 

Inc., Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. Also 

represented by KYLE RICHARD BAHR, CONOR MICHAEL 

SHAFFER, COLIN E. WRABLEY, Pittsburgh, PA.

 DANIEL GORDON JARCHO, McKenna Long & Aldridge, 

LLP, Washington, DC, for amici curiae Avera Health 

Plans, DAKOTACARE. 

 STEVEN ROSENBAUM, Covington & Burling LLP, 

Washington, DC, for amicus curiae Moda Health Plans, 

Inc. Also represented by CAROLINE BROWN. 

 LESLIE BERGER KIERNAN, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer 

& Feld, LLP, Washington, DC, for amicus curiae Americas Health Insurance Plans. Also represented by ROBERT 

K. HUFFMAN; RUTHANNE MARY DEUTSCH, HYLAND HUNT, 

Deutsch Hunt PLLC, Washington, DC.

 STEPHEN A. SWEDLOW, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & 

Sullivan, LLP, Chicago, IL, for amici curiae Health Republic Insurance Company, Alliance of Community 

Health Plans. Also represented by J. D. HORTON, ADAM 

WOLFSON, Los Angeles, CA.

 ANKUR GOEL, McDermott, Will & Emery LLP, Washington, DC, for amici curiae Blue Cross and Blue Shield of 

South Carolina, BlueChoice HealthPlan of South Caroli-
LAND OF LINCOLN MUTUAL HEALTH v. UNITED STATES 3

na, Inc. Also represented by M. MILLER BAKER, JOSHUA 

DAVID ROGACZEWSKI. 

 THOMAS G. HUNGAR, Office of General Counsel, United States House of Representatives, Washington, DC, for 

amicus curiae United States House of Representatives. 

Also represented by KIMBERLY HAMM, TODD B. TATELMAN. 

______________________ 

Before PROST, Chief Judge, NEWMAN and MOORE,

Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the court filed by Chief Judge PROST. 

Dissenting opinion filed by Circuit Judge NEWMAN. 

PROST, Chief Judge.

For the reasons stated in our decision in the companion case, Moda Health Plan, Inc. v. United States, No. 17-

1994, the statutory and contract claims of appellant Land 

of Lincoln Mutual Health fail. Additionally, because Land 

of Lincoln cannot state a contract claim, its takings claim 

fails to the extent it relies on the existence of a contract.

What remains is Land of Lincoln’s takings claim to 

the extent that claim arises from its statutory entitlement 

to full payments. We have previously held that “no statutory obligation to pay money, even where unchallenged, 

can create a property interest within the meaning of the 

Takings Clause.” Adams v. United States, 391 F.3d 1212, 

1225 (Fed. Cir. 2004) (citing Commonwealth Edison Co. v. 

United States, 271 F.3d 1327, 1340 (Fed. Cir. 2001) (en 

banc)). Land of Lincoln offers no basis for departing from 

that rule, and we see none. Accordingly, Land of Lincoln’s 

takings claim fails.

Because we hold that the trial court correctly granted 

judgment for the government as a matter of law, we need 

not address whether the trial court properly reached that 

conclusion via judgment on the administrative record.
4 LAND OF LINCOLN MUTUAL HEALTH v. UNITED STATES

AFFIRMED

COSTS

The parties shall bear their own costs.
United States Court of Appeals 

for the Federal Circuit ______________________ 

LAND OF LINCOLN MUTUAL HEALTH 

INSURANCE COMPANY, AN ILLINOIS NONPROFIT MUTUAL INSURANCE CORPORATION,

Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

UNITED STATES,

Defendant-Appellee

______________________ 

2017-1224

______________________ 

Appeal from the United States Court of Federal 

Claims in No. 1:16-cv-00744-CFL, Judge Charles F. 

Lettow. 

______________________ 

NEWMAN, Circuit Judge, dissenting. 

For the reasons stated in my dissent in the concurrently heard case, Moda Health Plan, Inc. v. United 

States, No. 17-1994, the ruling of the Court of Federal 

Claims should be reversed. 

The panel majority concedes that the government has 

a statutory obligation to make risk corridors payments to 

Land of Lincoln Mutual Health Insurance Company. 

That obligation has not been altered by statute or regulation. The Court of Federal Claims erred in its statutory 

interpretation, and in its conclusion that the government 
2 LAND OF LINCOLN MUTUAL HEALTH v. UNITED STATES

need not meet the obligations by which it induced the 

nation’s health insurers to implement the Affordable Care 

Act. I respectfully dissent from my colleagues’ endorsement of this flawed ruling.