Opinion ID: 684140
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Administrator's Disapproval of Proposed Effective Date.

Text: 36 We find that the Administrator, in deciding to disapprove the proposed July 1, 1989, effective date for SPA 89-18, considered the relevant factors and reasonably found that the amendment was a significant change in methods or standards for setting reimbursement rates, that publication requirements were not met until June 24, 1990, that no actual notice exception applied, and that therefore the amendment could not take effect before June 25, 1990. The State argues that enforcing the law as written would be a clear error in judgment, essentially because the cost to the State would be high. The cost could have been much lower, however, had the State not chosen to wait five months after the proposed effective date even to file the amendment with HCFA. The State surely knows how long it takes to get an amendment approved and the risk it takes by waiting so long. 37 Discerning no clear error in judgment on the Administrator's part, we find that his decision was not arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with the law. The Administrator's decision is therefore AFFIRMED.