Cal. Dep't of Health Care Servs. v. Ehrenberg (In re Ridgecrest Healthcare, Inc.)

601 B.R. 826
District Court, C.D. California·Decided March 29, 2019·No. Case No. CV 17-6708 FMO; BK Case No. 13-33058 BR·Published

Opinion

The Trustee responds that "the QA Fee, if an excise tax, is clearly and unequivocally not 'on a transaction[.]' " (Dkt. 15, Appellee's Br. at 15) (capitalization omitted). Because "[s]killed nursing facilities provide long-term care to their patients, and do[ ] not engage in one-time or discrete transactions *829with their patients[,]" the Trustee asserts that "QA Fees are not assessed on any discrete activity or transaction involving any particular patient, care or service." (Id. at 19). According to the Trustee, DHS "wants to squeeze the QA Fee into an excise tax 'on a transaction,' but fails to identify what the transaction is." (Id. ). The Trustee's assertions are unpersuasive.

During the hearing on the claim objection following remand, DHS's counsel explained that QA Fees were imposed on a "per bed"5 basis:

MR. WANG [DHS's counsel]: ... the QA fee is charged on a per bed at a facility - occupied bed at a facility in a month.
THE COURT: So it's -- and it's per bed per month?
MR. WANG: Per bed per month.
THE COURT: Per month. Okay.
MR. WANG: Okay.
THE COURT: And that doesn't vary?
MR. WANG: That varies throughout the month. So -- so that formula doesn't vary but the actual amount varies.
THE COURT: Okay.
MR. WANG: So it -- for example, at a facility that has 50 beds for the month of January 2017 perhaps 50 beds get occupied. In February 20 beds gets occupied. So that multiplier is multiplied by the number of beds occupied for the month.
THE COURT: Occupied. Okay.

(BK Dkt. 519, January 4, 2017, Hearing Tr. at 23-24).

DHS's characterization of QA Fees as being imposed on a "per bed, per patient day" basis was essentially uncontested. Indeed, the Trustee agreed with this characterization. (See BK Dkt. 480, Trustee's Opening Supp. Br. at 4) (describing QA Fees as "recurring monthly charges which are based on a facility specific annual rate, multiplied by the number of occupied beds/residents per day each month"). Nonetheless, the bankruptcy court found that QA Fees were not levied "on a transaction," reasoning as follows:

QA Fees are not based on the number of meals, beds, changes of clothing, or any other service provided to residents. QA Fees are not assessed when a new resident enters a facility. Rather, the terms of the legislation provide - and DHS's proof of claim makes clear - that QA Fees are recurring fees based on a skilled nursing facility's net revenue.

(BK Dkt. 491, Bankruptcy Court's Order of August 24, 2017, at 12) (emphasis added).

The court respectfully disagrees with bankruptcy court's legal interpretation of the relevant California law. See Marsh v. J. Alexander's LLC, 905 F.3d 610, 618 (9th Cir. 2018) (en banc ). The relevant California statute states that "[t]he amount of the uniform quality assurance fee to be assessed per resident day shall be determined based on the aggregate net revenue of skilled nursing facilities subject to the fee [.]" Cal. Health & Safety Code § 1324.21(b) (emphasis added). As both DHS and the Trustee agreed that the QA Fee was calculated based on the number of beds per day provided to a nursing facility's residents, (see BK Dkt. 480, Trustee's Opening Supp. Br. at 4), the bankruptcy court erred in concluding that *830"QA Fees are not based on the number of ... beds ... provided to residents."6 As DHS correctly notes, the "QA Fee ... is a daily per bed charge" that is highly "analogous to the bed tax imposed by the hospitality industry[ ] at hotels and motels." (Dkt. 12, DHS Opening Br. at 14).

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Cal. Dep't of Health Care Servs. v. Ehrenberg (In re Ridgecrest Healthcare, Inc.), 601 B.R. 826 (C.D. Cal. 2019).

601 B.R. 826 (Cal. Dep't of Health Care Servs. v. Ehrenberg (In re Ridgecrest Healthcare, Inc.)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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