A lawsuit by Missouri Medicaid recipients challenging the state's liens against settlement funds from workers' compensation cases will proceed as a class action. The plaintiffs contend that the state Medicaid agency has claimed liens against proceeds that are not compensation for past medical expenses in violation of the ruling of the United States Supreme Court in Arkansas Dept. of Health and Human Services v. Ahlborn.
Class certification was appropriate because (1) it was undisputed that the state Medicaid agency had claimed liens against the workers' compensation settlements of hundreds of Medicaid recipients; (2) the application of Soc. Sec. Act §1917 to liens against the proceeds of workers' compensation settlements that do not compensate for past medical expenses would determine the outcome of the cases; (3) the Medicaid agency had applied the same policy to all class members; and (4) separate adjudications of each claim created a risk of inconsistent decisions and conflicting obligations for the agency.
The Medicaid agency argued that the claims of many class members are barred by the statute of limitations. The court ruled that any defenses to individual claims of some members of the class were irrelevant to the appropriateness of class certification and should be raised later.
Source: Doran v. Missouri Department of Social Services, W.D. Mo., May 2, 2008.
For more information on this and related topics, consult the CCH® Medicare and Medicaid Guide.
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