On August 16, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dismissed a challenge to the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") provision that effectively eliminates the "whole hospital" exception in the Stark Law. Coupled with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the overall constitutionality of the ACA earlier this summer, the Fifth Circuit ruling (at least within the Fifth Circuit) may practically put the final nail in the coffin for new physician-owned hospitals participating in the Medicare program.

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