Regional News
Nebraska judge strikes down Medicaid rule
Published Thursday, July 02, 2009 at 04:35 PM
By NATE JENKINS Associated Press Writer

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Nebraska has been wrongfully denying Medicaid coverage to hundreds of low-income residents whom state officials argued did not work enough to comply with a welfare-to-work program, a judge has ruled.

The ruling nixes a controversial state policy that required a single parent with one or more children younger than 6 years old, for instance, to work at least 20 hours a week to retain the Medicaid benefits.

With the exception of the main plaintiff, damages likely will not be awarded to the more than 400 people denied Medicaid benefits. Instead, they can expect to regain coverage if they have not already because they eventually fulfilled the state's work requirements under the rule.

The director of the public advocacy law center that filed the lawsuit last year on behalf of the residents said the ruling will lead state policy to better meet the intent of its welfare-to-work program, which was authorized under federal welfare reform.

"This ruling will help to ensure that parents ... will have a better chance of getting and maintaining a job, caring for their children, and moving from poverty to self-sufficiency, which is the ultimate goal" of the state's program, said Becky Gould of the Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest.

In the court order Tuesday, Lancaster County District Court Judge Karen Flowers said the state Department of Health and Human Services exceeded its authority when approving the rule, saying it's a matter for lawmakers to decide.

"It can be argued that conditioning receipt of Medicaid on compliance with a self-sufficiency contract is consistent with the policy of the state," she wrote. "Deciding whether to do so, however, is a legislative function, not an administrative one."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services said it was reviewing the ruling and could not comment.

Gould says it is not clear how many residents will be affected by the ruling because it was unknown how many people have been denied benefits since the lawsuit was filed.

Under the rule Flowers struck down, single parents with children older than 6 were required to work at least 30 hours a week to receive Medicaid. Two-parent families had to work a combined minimum of 35 hours or 55 hours a week, depending on whether they got federally funded child care.

Cash payments can be withheld from people who don't work enough hours under the welfare-to-work program.

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