Court Opinion

ID: 9470867
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 03:18:35.185908+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:42:08.985404
License: Public Domain

GODBOLD,
Chief Judge, dissenting:
To justify issuance of a status quo injunction under the All Writs Act pending administrative review, VNA must establish the traditional prerequisites of injunctive relief. I agree with the court that under Sampson v. Murray the required strength of VNA’s showing depends on two factors: whether a refusal to grant the injunction will defeat the district court’s merits jurisdiction and whether Congress intended to preclude or permit an interim injunction. I disagree with the court’s evaluation of these two factors and its corresponding conclusion that VNA must make out a virtually certain case.
The court accepts VNA’s allegations that it will be forced out of business and go bankrupt if interim relief is denied. Maj. op. at 1031 n. 26. It concludes that this may be a significant impairment of the district court’s jurisdiction but does not necessarily defeat it. Id. at 1031. It seems to hold that if VNA proved or alleged that it would “disappear”, id. at 1029, the court could issue an injunction, but if it is merely going bankrupt the court cannot issue an injunction.
This is too fine a distinction. The term “defeat” [of jurisdiction] in Murray must be given a common sense meaning. Murray emphasized that injunctive relief was needed in Dean Foods to prevent “the practical disappearance” of one of the litigants through merger and to preserve the agency’s and the court’s ability to implement “their statutory duties by fashioning effective relief.” 415 U.S. at 77, 94 S.Ct. at 947 (emphasis added). Accordingly, the court’s jurisdiction is “effectively defeated”, 415 U.S. at 78, 94 S.Ct. at 947 (emphasis added), when the ultimate exercise of it has little *1036possible chance of achieving efficacious results.
In Murray interim relief was not necessary to preserve the possibility of efficacious relief because, as the Court noted, Congress had provided an adequate post-hoc remedy. 415 U.S. at 75, 94 S.Ct. at 945. The situation here is strikingly different. A court has no power to breathe life into the corpse of a provider that is out of business and bankrupt. The possibility that a court may order the government to pay the disputed amount to the provider’s representative in bankruptcy proceedings is hardly an efficacious remedy. Absent an injunction the district court’s jurisdiction will be effectively defeated within the meaning of Dean Foods and Murray.
Turning to congressional intent, arguably one can infer an intent favoring issuance of a status quo injunction. Absent an injunction, review by the administrative board as well as the court will become virtually meaningless; with VNA out of business and bankrupt, neither board nor court could grant an effective remedy. This case differs from Murray because Congress has not provided an adequate post-hoc remedy, making effective review and relief possible. I believe Congress intended that the review it conferred on board and courts be meaningful.
In assessing congressional intent one must bear in mind that VNA is not asking the district court to decide the merits of its claims; it seeks an interim injunction while the board decides its claims. Because the court overlooks the implications of this basic fact, it errs in inferring an intent to deny or strictly limit interim injunctive relief from 42 U.S.C. § 405(h) and 42 U.S.C. § 1395oo(f)(l).
In pertinent part, § 405(h) provides:
No action against the United States, the Secretary, or any officer or employee thereof shall be brought under sections 1331 [federal question jurisdiction] or 1346 [United States as a defendant] of title 28 to recover on any claim arising under this subchapter.
42 U.S.C. § 405(h) (1976) (emphasis added) (incorporated into the Medicare Act by 42 U.S.C. § 1395ii). Section 405(h) generally operates to preclude a district court from deciding the merits of a provider’s claims until the board has rendered a final decision. Except where the board lacks jurisdiction to decide issues raised by the provider, see infra, the district court cannot base its review on § 1395oo(f)(1) because the board has not rendered a final decision. Section 405(h) acts to preclude the court from deciding the case under the other possible bases of jurisdiction, §§ 1331 and 1346.
VNA does not seek judicial review on the merits of its claims. Section 405(h) is simply inapplicable because this is not an action brought under § 1331 or § 1346, but rather an action brought under the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a), in aid of the court’s potential jurisdiction under 42 U.S.C. § 139500(f)(1).1 The court’s position that § 405(h) does apply thus cannot be supported. Additionally, the court’s position conflicts with its holding that interim in-junctive relief is available in some cases. If § 405(h) were applicable, it would, by its plain terms, preclude such relief in all cases.
Of course, the lesson of Murray is that the All Writs Act should be interpreted in light of policies militating against issuance of interim injunctive relief. But § 405(h) reflects no such countervailing policies. As the court notes, “the main purpose of [§ 405(h)] preclusion is to avoid anticipation by the court of an agency determina-tión on the merits.” Maj. op. at pp. 1031-1032. VNA does not seek a determination on the merits of its claims.
The court’s reliance on § 1395oo(f)(1) is similarly misplaced. Section 1395oo(f)(1) generally precludes district court review until the board issues a final decision. That *1037section, however, contains an exception allowing direct judicial review in any action involving an issue that the board lacks jurisdiction to decide. The court reasons that the negative implication of this exception is that Congress intended to preclude injunctive relief while administrative proceedings are pending. But § 1395oo(f)(1) addresses the timing of the district court’s review of the merits of a provider’s claims, a type of review not involved here. VNA does not seek to circumvent an administrative decision on the merits of its claims; it desires injunctive relief to preserve the possibility of meaningful administrative merits review and relief. I cannot infer from § 1395oo (f)(1) an intent to deny interim injunctive relief. Congress’s failure to include an explicit provision authorizing interim injunctive relief in the Medicare Act can be explained on other grounds. Congress might reasonably have concluded that the All Writs Act made such a provision unnecessary. Or Congress possibly did not consider the issue. In any case § 1395oo(f)(1) lends no support to, and, in fact, cuts against, the court’s position. Because the board would otherwise be powerless to issue effective relief, interim injunctive relief promotes rather than hinders the administrative review contemplated by § 1395oo(f)(1).
Finally, I do not agree with the conclusion that the district court, in deciding whether to grant a status quo injunction, interferes with the administrative board’s review. The court reasons that the district court’s determination regarding the plaintiff’s probable success on the merits usurps the board’s statutory prerogative to decide the merits in the first instance. Although the court’s determination is not binding on the board, the court states: “It is simply not realistic to say that the district court ... does not address and decide the merits of the case.” Maj. op. at 1032. This reasoning sweeps too broadly. The district court must consider the plaintiff’s likelihood of success in every case where interim in-junctive relief is sought. The court’s opinion implies that in all such cases the court should be reluctant to even entertain the possibility of injunctive relief because its advance assessment of plaintiff’s probability of success will effectively predetermine the ultimate decision of the administrative body before whom review is pending. This reasoning suggests that this court, in considering a motion for an injunction pending appeal, should hesitate to assess the plaintiff’s likelihood of success because its assessment might taint the decision of the panel to whom the appeal is ultimately assigned. This cannot be correct.
The concern about the effect of the district court’s probable success determination on the administrative board’s decision was also present in Murray, as it is in all . cases where interim injunctive relief is sought. Yet the court did not mention this concern, despite discussing whether interim injunc-tive relief would interfere with the administrative process.
Ironically, the court’s “virtual certainty” standard exacerbates the very evil the court seeks to exorcise. A determination that the plaintiff is virtually certain to prevail on the merits necessitates an even firmer conclusion on the merits and is even more likely to straitjacket the administrative board.
To summarize, Congress did not intend to preclude or limit interim injunctive relief. In fact, a status quo injunction aids rather than interferes with the board’s review. Absent injunctive relief, the board’s merits review will lack meaning because the board is entirely unable to provide an effective remedy. Congress intended' that the board’s review have meaning and efficacy.
Because without an injunction the district court’s jurisdiction will be effectively defeated within the meaning of Murray, and the evidence of congressional intent does not militate against the issuance of injunc-tive relief, I would not require that VNA make out a virtually certain case. I would remand to the district court to determine whether VNA can make out a case under the usual test for injunctive relief.

. The All Writs Act is not an independent source of jurisdiction. Rather, it empowers the court to issue injunctive orders to preserve potential jurisdiction founded in other provisions. See FTC v. Dean Foods, 384 U.S. 597, 603, 86 S.Ct. 1738, 1742, 16 L.Ed.2d 802 (1966); ITT Community Development Corp. v. Barton, 569 F.2d 1351, 1359 n. 19 (5th Cir.1978).