Federal Judge Issues Expedited Review of Health Care Benefits for Ohioans
Legal Services E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: Erica Blake
Source: Toledo Blade, “Agency to fast-track disability benefits”
Date: 12/31/2012
“Thousands of disabled Ohioans who had been in limbo waiting for health-care benefits to start are now guaranteed their applications will be reviewed in a more timely matter, according to a recent federal court ruling. A class action lawsuit filed in March, 2010, in U.S. District Court in Toledo was settled by consent decree this month, concluding a months-long legal battle and a years-long problem, advocates said. The settlement requires the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to automatically enroll in Medicaid any individuals whose applications have been pending more than 90 days, and directs the agency to work toward permanently eliminating lengthy waits. ‘At the time the case was filed, there were more than 22,000 applications pending with the ODJFS for more than 90 days, with some in excess of one year,’ said W. David Koeninger, a lawyer with Toledo-based Advocates for Basic Legal Equality Inc. He added that the first round of applications should have been processed by now and applicants will be eligible for benefits by Sunday. ‘Many of these individuals had severe disabilities, and were not able to obtain necessary medical care while their applications were pending,’ he said. ‘Many of them suffered unnecessarily because of the state of Ohio’s failure to provide eligibility determinations for Medicaid within 90 days after each application was filed, as required by federal law.’ The lawsuit was filed by ABLE on behalf of the Ability Center of Greater Toledo as well as five northwest Ohio residents. The complaint alleged that Ohio took too long in reviewing cases and thus caused many people to be denied Medicaid services for unreasonable lengths of time while waiting for decisions on their claims. The lawsuit further alleged that the delays were excessive enough to violate federal mandates and put residents at risk. The 10-page consent decree was ordered Dec. 2 by Judge James Carr. It keeps the case under the court’s jurisdiction until January, 2014, to ensure the agreement is upheld.”