Opinion ID: 511795
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Participation Decision Issue is Moot

Text: 11 We decline to reach the merits of appellants' due process challenge to the implementation of Sec. 9331. If a dispute has been resolved or if it has evanesced because of changed circumstances, including the passage of time, it is considered moot. Matter of S.L.E. Inc., 674 F.2d 359, 364 (5th Cir.1982). With the designation of mootness comes the concomitant designation of non-justiciability. Id. Jurisdiction is still proper, however, if there is a reasonable likelihood that the same controversy will recur. Honig v. Doe, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 592, 601 and n. 6, 98 L.Ed.2d 686 (1988). 12 There can be little dispute in this case that the immediate controversy ended with the passing of the 1987 participation decision deadline and the one-year period for which that decision was effective. Appellants argue that declaratory relief could still be granted even though injunctive relief is no longer available. Super Tire Engineering Co. v. McCorkle, 416 U.S. 115, 122, 94 S.Ct. 1694, 1698, 40 L.Ed.2d 1 (1974). However, Super Tire differs from this case in that an immediate controversy existed for the declaratory judgment to address. In that case, an employer alleged that a state's grant of public assistance to striking workers constituted interference with the federal labor policy of free collective bargaining. The particular strike in question ended, thus mooting claims for injunctions against the relief. Yet, the continuing state policy of making the assistance available had a continuing effect on collective bargaining. The court concluded that jurisdiction would be proper since the plaintiff could show the existence of an immediate and definite governmental action or policy that has adversely affected and continues to affect a present interest. 416 U.S. at 125-26, 94 S.Ct. at 1700. 13 Conversely, a declaratory judgment would have no immediate effect in this case. The consequences of the 1987 participation decision can no longer practically be changed. 5 Furthermore, physicians appear to have received timely information with which to make their decisions for 1988. The possibility that MAAC information will not be available before participation decision deadlines in coming years is speculative and has no impact on physicians' ongoing practice. 14 Nor does this case come within the exception to the mootness rule as being capable of repetition, yet evading review. See Ill. State Bd. of Elec. v. Socialist Workers, 440 U.S. 173, 187, 99 S.Ct. 983, 992, 59 L.Ed.2d 230 (1979). In that case, the Illinois Board of Elections disputed the authority of the Chicago Board of Elections to execute a settlement agreement concerning the signature requirement and filing deadline for placing a candidate on the ballot in a particular election. The Supreme Court concluded that the claim was moot and that there was no reasonable expectation that the Chicago Board would repeat the questioned action in subsequent elections. The Court reasoned that the action reflected neither a policy the Board had determined to continue nor a consistent pattern of behavior nor an action patently prescribed by statute. Id. 15 The present case is analogous to Socialist Workers in that the dispute concerns actions arising from an unusual set of facts that are unlikely to recur. HHS's failure to provide physicians with timely MAAC information can not be said to reflect either a policy of HHS or a consistent pattern of behavior. Indeed, timely information has apparently been provided for the 1988 participation decision, and as each succeeding year's MAACs evolve from those of the past year, the calculations should become more readily ascertainable. Rather, the difficulty in providing the information before the 1987 participation decision appears to have been created by the timing of the underlying legislation. Congress provided little more than two months between passage of the OBRA of 1986 and the 1987 participation deadline. There is no reason to expect similar difficulties in the future. Congress itself may have learned from the unsatisfactory 1986 experience as it provided adequate time to implement the changes to the Medicare program enacted as part of the OBRA of 1987. 16