News from NCLEJ

LEGAL ADVOCATES WIN BACK HEALTHCARE COVERAGE FOR THOUSANDS OF NEW YORK CITY FAMILIES

Major Settlement Ends Practice Of Cutting Off Medicaid Benefits For Thousands Of Families Dropped From Welfare Rolls

NEW YORK, Wednesday, June 28, 2001- Thousands of poor families will be reimbursed for medical expenses and issued Medicaid coverage as a result of a settlement announced today by the Welfare Law Center and The Legal Aid Society in a major class action affecting tens of thousands of poor people wrongly cut off Medicaid in New York City.

In a settlement signed by the Court in Mangracina v. Turner, New York City and State have finally agreed not only to sweeping reforms that would preserve and reinstate Medicaid for the thousands affected, but to provide financial relief for victims forced to pay out-of-pocket, from meager budgets, to cover their families' medical costs.

As a result of the settlement, New York City and State agreed to stop terminating Medicaid benefits when welfare (cash assistance) cases are closed. "This settlement will avert the needless suffering of tens of thousands of New Yorkers, who, the City and State agree, were illegally cut off from Medicaid," said Elisabeth Benjamin, an attorney with The Legal Aid Society.

"This settlement is a significant victory for the tens of thousands of poor families in desperate need of medical assistance who were forced to go without care," said Rebecca Scharf, an attorney for the Welfare Law Center. "We have won a major victory for thousands of families who thought that justice was out of reach."

The practice of dropping eligible families from the Medicaid rolls by New York City's Human Resources Administration violates state law and federal protections, which preserve Medicaid as an entitlement for income-eligible individuals and families.

Many of the families cut off Medicaid were not even aware that the City had closed their Medicaid case until they were denied medical care at a time of urgent and desperate need, such as in a hospital emergency room or walk-in clinic.

Linda Mangracina, the lead plaintiff, suffers from a joint disease which has crippled her and makes it almost impossible to walk. The loss of her Medicaid prevented her from obtaining her prescription medication, leaving her in tremendous pain. She challenged the closing of her Medicaid case in a State administrative hearing -- and won. However, the City still refused to follow the law and, until the case was filed, Ms. Mangracina had no Medicaid.