Wills Eye appeals to Third Circuit

Wills Eye Hospital on Monday took its fight for certification as a hospital under Medicare rules to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno had ruled in January that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was within its rights when it decided in 2013 that Wills did not provide enough inpatient care to qualify as a hospital. The appeal challenges that ruling.

Qualifying as a hospital would allow Wills to get paid more by Medicare. Plus, its current status as an ambulatory surgery center prevents it from performing certain complex procedures at its Ninth and Walnut Street facility in Center City.