Opinion ID: 435835
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Judicial Review of Secretary's Determination

Text: 18 Humana argues that withholding judicial consideration until after exhaustion of its administrative remedies may serve to deny Humana any judicial review, because defendants may assert section 1122(f) as a bar to judicial review of the Secretary's final determination. We do not intend to abandon Humana with no recourse to the courts. We leave the door open to Humana to seek federal judicial review after exhaustion of its administrative remedies, should it find the Secretary's final determination unsatisfactory. 19 Under Article III, Congress controls the jurisdiction of the federal courts, and may act to withdraw the courts' jurisdiction over certain types of cases. The Administrative Procedure Act provides that judicial review over administrative agency action is unavailable only where the matter is clearly committed to agency discretion, or where Congress has succeeded in eliminating all judicial review of the subject matter. 5 U.S.C. Sec. 701(a) (1976). The Supreme Court has held that judicial review will not be cut off unless there is a persuasive reason to believe that such was the purpose of Congress. Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 136, 140, 87 S.Ct. 1507, 1510, 18 L.Ed.2d 681 (1967); see K. Davis, Administrative Law Treatise Sec. 28.09 (1982 Supp.). 20 Congress has not convinced us that it intended to eliminate any and all judicial review of the 1122 process. The regulations suggest judicial review of state agency actions, yet we cannot approve judicial review, whether procedural or substantive, of intermediate administrative actions for compliance with section 1122. Review of the Secretary's determination would be the only other opportunity to challenge the administrative process. We do not believe that Congress intended to cut off that opportunity. 11 21 The Fifth Circuit has approved procedural review of the Secretary's determinations, at least to the extent of assessing whether the Secretary conformed with her agency's own rules and regulations. See Hollingsworth v. Harris, 608 F.2d 1026, 1027 (5th Cir.1979) (per curiam). Hollingsworth noted that despite Congress' attempted withdrawal of judicial review, agency action may be reviewed for compliance with the agency's own procedures as outlined in its regulations. Id. (citing Graham v. Caston, 568 F.2d 1092, 1097 (5th Cir.1978)). In Casari, the Eighth Circuit cited Hollingsworth with approval. 667 F.2d at 740. We hold that at a minimum, judicial review of the Secretary's compliance with the procedures of section 1122 and the regulations thereunder 12 is available despite section 1122(f).