Facing “Illegally Long Waits” for Hearings, Disabled Medicare Recipients Sue Georgia, Represented by LSC-funded Programs
Legal Services E-lert

Date of E-Lert – 07/03/08

Bibliographic Info:
Author: Andy Miller
Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Date: 7/2/08

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution states:   "Georgia's Medicaid program is facing more legal trouble over its treatment of people with disabilities.  In a suit against Department of Community Health officials, attorneys allege Medicaid is violating state and federal law by delaying hearings of disabled people who have appealed decisions about their care.  Federal Medicaid rules require a decision within 90 days of an appeal, said Charles Bliss, an attorney with [LSC-funded] Atlanta Legal Aid Society, which, along with [LSC-funded] Georgia Legal Services Program, filed the suit Friday [June 27, 2008] in Fulton County Superior Court . . . .  The lawsuit comes on the heels of a recent Medicaid ruling by a federal judge in the case of a developmentally disabled North Georgia girl.  In that ruling, U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash found the state can't deny funding for services prescribed by a patient's physician . . . .  The latest lawsuit alleges that hundreds of Georgians have faced illegally long waits for hearings, as they attempted to appeal Medicaid rejections of medical services.  Many of those appeals filed in 2007 still have not been heard, legal-aid attorneys said."

Tags: Disability, Government Benefits, Health, Legal Services Activities and Achievements