Agency Action Challenges Team
Helping employers as well as health care and life sciences organizations navigate and take control of regulatory challenges
Understanding Agency Actions
The actions of administrative agencies can significantly affect businesses, particularly in heavily regulated industries, such as health care.
Agencies function in three primary capacities:
- Creating regulations and interpretive rules
- Enforcing statutes, regulations, and rules
- Interpreting laws through decision-making
Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have reshaped the administrative landscape, removing key advantages previously held by federal agencies. These changes create new opportunities for organizations to challenge unreasonable or unlawful regulatory actions.
Whether defending your organization against adverse agency decisions or challenging agency rulings, Epstein Becker Green provides strategic guidance to help you engage effectively with regulatory agencies and contest administrative actions.
Why Choose EBG's AACT?
Our team combines deep knowledge of administrative law with hands-on experience.
Members of the AACT have held positions within major agencies, including:
- the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),
- the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL),
- the National Labor Relations Board, and
- the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
These insights, paired with extensive litigation experience, equip us to effectively challenge agency interpretations, rulings, and regulations.
Our Experience
Our past work for clients facing agency actions includes:
- advocacy in administrative hearings and appeals involving HHS, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, DOL, and the Federal Trade Commission;
- direct litigation against unreasonable regulations or agency actions in courts across the country; and
- tailored strategies aligning with business priorities by drawing on subject-matter experts from our affiliate, EBG Advisors.
Understanding Agency Actions
Administrative agencies function in three primary capacities—they:
- Create regulations and interpretive rules,
- Enforce statutes, regulations, and rules, and
- Interpret laws through decision-making.
These actions can significantly affect businesses, particularly in heavily regulated industries like health care.
Proven Success in Agency Challenges
Our attorneys have consistently delivered favorable outcomes for clients across various forums, from agency hearings to federal courts. Examples include the following:
Vacating a Federal Agency Regulation
We secured a decisive ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturning the DOL's 80/20/30 tip credit rule.
Recovering Medicare Reimbursement
We achieved a reversal of a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) denial, recovering $5 million in payments for a hospital.
Preserving Medicare Supplier Privileges
We successfully challenged the revocation of Medicare billing privileges, ensuring uninterrupted operations.
Influencing Policy Change
We brought litigation that prompted legislative revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act interpretation.
Obtaining Injunctive Relief
We challenged HHS and the Health Resources and Services Administration to save a critical-access hospital from being removed from the 340B prescription drug program, which was vital to its ongoing operations.
Challenging Federal Grant Funding Terminations and Suspensions
We assisted grantee institutions in challenging the cancellation of grants by federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
