JACKSON HEIGHTS NH LLC v. AGENCY FOR HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION (2020)

As the letter initiating this dispute does not reflect the relevant dates of the overpayments designated for recoupment, the Medicaid provider failed to file a written request for hearing within twenty-one days, and the statute of limitations does not operate as a jurisdictional bar, we affirm the final agency decision under review. See Comerica Bank & Tr., F.S.B. v. SDI Operating Partners, L.P., 673 So. 2d 163, 166 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996) (“[O]rdinary statutes of limitations are mere affirmative defenses for the opponent of the claim to plead and prove,” and do not act as a jurisdictional bar.); see also Lewis Foster Homes LLC v. Agency for Persons with Disabilities, 281 So. 3d 619, 620 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019) (“[B]ecause Appellant did not request a hearing to respond to the Agency's complaint, its challenge to the facts alleged in the complaint, which the Agency accepted in its final order, was waived.”) (citation omitted); Goodson v. Fla. Dep't of Bus. & Prof'l Regulation, 978 So. 2d 195, 196 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008) (“[I]t is well established that a claim of error, even in the administrative context, cannot be raised for the first time on appeal.”) (citations omitted); Stueber v. Gallagher, 812 So. 2d 454, 456 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002) (“In administrative appeals a claim of error cannot be raised for the first time on appeal.”) (citations omitted); Thornber v. City of Fort Walton Beach, 534 So. 2d 754, 755 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988) (“It is axiomatic that appellate review is confined to the record on appeal. An appellate court will not consider evidence that was not presented to the lower tribunal because the function of an appellate court is to determine whether the lower tribunal committed error based on the issues and evidence before it.”) (citations omitted).

Affirmed.

PER CURIAM.