Major Developments in NCLEJ Litigation Since 2002
2008
NCLEJ and Empire Justice Center File Class Action Challenging Medicaid Application Delays on Long Island, NY (August, 2008)
A class action lawsuit, Maryann C. v. Demarzo, was filed by the National Center for Law and Economic Justice and the Empire Justice Center on Friday, August 22, 2008 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Plaintiff seeks to order Suffolk County to, inter alia, (1) timely process applications for and provide Medicaid; (2) make eligibility determinations for Medicaid separate from eligibility determinations for cash assistance; (3) develop and implement a process that effectively addresses immediate medical or other needs of individual applicants pending a final Medicaid or cash assistance eligibility determination; and (4) provide timely and adequate written notices of determinations of eligibility for Medicaid, including notice of fair hearing rights.
Each month thousands of Suffolk County residents wait for their Medicaid eligibility determination beyond the forty-five day limit set by regulation. For example, the complaint alleges that an average of 33% of applications each month were pending beyond 45 days for the months of August through November 2007. While they wait, applicants often must pay for needed health care out of their own pockets or forgo needed medical care.
On August 22, 2008, plaintiffs filed a class action complaint and motion for class certification.
For further information contact: Laura F. Redman, redman(at)nclej.org, Lynn D. Lu, lu(at)nclej.org, Petra T. Tasheff, (tasheff(at)nclej.org) and Marc Cohan (cohan(at)nclej.org) of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice; Bryan Hetherington (Bhetherington(at)empirejustice.org) and Linda Hassberg (Lhassberg(at)empirejustice.org) of the Empire Justice Center.
NCLEJ and Colleagues Achieve Settlement Ending Lengthy Delays in Processing of Food Stamp Applications in New York City (April, 2008)
NCLEJ, the New York Legal Assistance Group, and the Urban Justice Center have achieved a settlement in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York case challenging New York City’s unlawful practice of delaying food stamp applications filed at non-cash assistance centers. Under the terms of the settlement in Williston v. Eggleston, which was approved by the Court in April 2008, New York City must abide by federal and state deadlines for processing food stamp applications and providing food stamps to eligible households, including those most in need who qualify for expedited food stamp processing. Addtionally, New York State must supervise the City’s implementation of federal timeliness requirements. Finally, individuals experiencing food stamp application delays may utilize an out-of-court relief mechanism to resolve their application delays.
The Court will retain jurisdiction over the case for four years, with a process for extending jurisdiction if defendants fail to comply with the terms of the settlement. During the course of the settlement, compliance will be measured through regular reports to plaintiffs’ counsel demonstrating the timeliness of food stamp application processing.
The case was brought under the Food Stamp Act and its implementing regulations.
For further information contact the following at NCLEJ: Lynn Lu, lu(at)nclej.org, or Marc Cohan, cohan(at)nclej.org. Co-counsel are Randal Jeffrey, Elissa Devins, Elena Goldstein, and Miriam Werner of the New York Legal Assistance Group in New York, New York; and Leslie Annexstein of the Urban Justice Center in New York, New York.
Additional information:
Press Release (April 16, 2008)
NCLEJ Achieves Settlement Providing Due Process Protections for Tens of Thousands of Missouri Children (April, 2008)
NCLEJ and the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) have achieved a settlement in a case in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri challenging Missouri’s unlawful practice of terminating health coverage without due process of law for children who receive their health benefits through Missouri’s State Children’s Health Insurance Program and are required to pay a monthly premium. Under the terms of the settlement, in J.W.M. v. Scott, which the Court approved in April 2008, Missouri can no longer close the cases of tens of thousands of children without first giving them notice of their right to appeal and the opportunity to explain why their case should not be closed. Additionally, the State will reinstate health coverage for children who were unlawfully terminated after the federal court ordered Missouri to stop its unlawful policy of terminating children who missed premiums without first providing the opportunity to appeal. Finally, the State will also review the cases of children whose health coverage was terminated but who may have been eligible under another Medicaid program at the time they lost coverage. The State will provide financial relief for those families forced to pay out-of-pocket, from meager budgets, to cover their children's medical costs.
The Court will retain jurisdiction over the case until October 15, 2008, unless the plaintiff class seeks an extension of this timetable. During the course of the settlement, the State will provide reports to NCLEJ in order for NCLEJ to monitor implementation of the settlement and future performance.
The case was brought under the Medicaid Act, its implementing regulations, and the United States Constitution. It was the first of its kind in the country to specifically address a State’s State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
For further information contact Laura Redman, redman(at)nclej.org, Marc Cohan cohan(at)nclej.org, or Tedde Tasheff, tasheff(at)nclej.org, at the National Center for Law and Economic Justice. Co-counsel is Steve Hitov, hitov(at)healthlaw.org, at the National Health Law Program, Washington D.C.
Additional Information:
Press Release on Case Settlement (April, 2008)
Press Release on Preliminary Injunction (July, 2007)
District Court Decision (July, 2007)
Press Release on Filing of the Case (February, 2007)
NCLEJ and Colleagues Achieve Settlement in Colorado Requiring Prompt Processing of Benefits Applications (January, 2008)
On January 3, 2008 the state court approved a settlement in this case, which was filed in August 2004 court following Colorado's premature launch of a flawed new computer system to manage applications and ongoing eligibility for all of its public benefits programs. The new system, known as the Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS), led to massive delays in processing applications and loss of benefits. Plaintiffs secured a preliminary injunction in late 2004 requiring timely benefit processing, elimination of the backlog of overdue cases, an emergency processing mechanism for those who lost benefits as a result of the new system, extensive reporting by the state agency, improved notices to program beneficiaries, and a stay on collection of overpayments caused by the new system.
After extensive negotiations, the parties agreed to a settlement in late 2007 under which the state agency must comply with federal and state requirements for timely processing of applications for Food Stamps, Medicaid, Children's Basic Health Plan, and TANF cash assistance and engage in extensive reporting and monitoring. Other provisions include the following: the state will maintain a toll-free telephone for applicants and recipients to report problems and get resolution, instruct counties to refund collections of overpayments caused by improper operation of the computer system, require counties that are not providing telephonic access to applicants and recipients to do so, and take steps to investigate and resolve systemic computer problems identified by the plaintiffs.
The case is Davis v. Henneberry (originally known as Hawthorne-Bey v. Reinertson). In addition to NCLEJ, plaintiffs' counsel are the Colorado Center on Law and Policy and Sherman & Howard L.L.C. For more information contact the folloiwng at NCLEJ: Marc Cohan, cohan(at) nclej.org, Gina Mannix, mannix(at)nclej.org, or Tedde Tasheff, tasheff(at)nclej.org.
