Major Developments in NCLEJ Litigation Since 2002

Welfare Law Center and National Health Law Program Win Back Healthcare Coverage for Thousands of Missouri Families

October 7, 2002 – Thousands of low income families will see their desperately-needed Medicaid benefits continue after Judge Nanette K. Laughrey of the Western District of Missouri issued a preliminary injunction on October 3, 2002 directing the Missouri state welfare and Medicaid agencies to provide Transitional Medicaid Assistance (TMA) to over 17,000 people. These families had lost Medicaid on July 1, 2002 when Missouri implemented legislative changes that reduced the Medicaid eligibility level from 100% of the federal poverty level to 77% of the poverty level, and refused to provide them with legally-required TMA. On July 26, 2002, Judge Laughrey had issued a temporary restraining order requiring the State of Missouri to restore the Medicaid coverage of approximately 20,000 working poor families, and certifying the class.

The Welfare Law Center, along with the National Health Law Program, brought the class action on behalf of Missouri families struck by the devastating change in Missouri Medicaid policy July 1. These struggling families, aided by low-wage employment but vulnerable to the smallest shifts in their safety net, suddenly found themselves forced to pay-out-of-pocket, from meager budgets, to cover their families’ medical costs, or do without desperately-needed medical services.