Cook v. Barry
| Decision Date | 27 July 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. C-1-89-0066.,C-1-89-0066. |
| Citation | 718 F. Supp. 632 |
| Parties | Claudie COOK, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Patricia BARRY, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio |
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Janet Pecquet, Findlay, Ohio, Bill Hambley, Cincinnati, Ohio, for plaintiffs.
Thomas Deye, Cincinnati, Ohio, Michael Powell, Lebanon, Ohio, Karen Lazorishak and Alan Schwepe, Columbus, Ohio, for defendants.
This matter is before the Court on a motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment filed by defendants Ohio Department of Human Services (ODHS) and Patricia Barry, Director of ODHS (Doc. No. 8) and a motion for judgment on the pleadings, motion to dismiss and motion for summary judgment filed by defendants Warren County, Ohio Department of Human Services (WCDHS), Susan Wilson, C. Michael Kilburn, O.H. Egleston, and George Terwilleger (WCDHS defendants) (Doc. No. 18). Plaintiffs have filed opposing memoranda (Doc. Nos. 13 and 22), to which defendants have replied (Doc. Nos. 17 and 31). For the reasons set forth below, defendants' motions are GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
The following facts are not in dispute: Plaintiffs Claudie Cook, Iona Snider and Morrow Snider are elderly residents of nursing homes in Hamilton County, Ohio and Warren County, Ohio. Cook applied for Ohio Medicaid benefits in January, 1988 with the Hamilton County Department of Human Services (HCDHS). The Sniders applied for such benefits in September, 1987 with the WCDHS. Plaintiffs made the applications through relatives, who thereby became plaintiffs' authorized representatives. Plaintiffs' authorized representatives did not furnish necessary information to establish eligibility for Medicaid benefits, and plaintiffs' applications were denied.
Plaintiffs subsequently filed new Medicaid applications, which were approved. Plaintiff Cook owes the nursing home where she resides approximately $10,000 for the period for which Medicaid benefits were denied. The Sniders owe the nursing home where they reside approximately $23,000.
Plaintiffs claim that they were unable to complete the applications filed in January, 1988 and September, 1987 without the assistance of the HCDHS or WCDHS because of various disabilities from which they suffer. Plaintiffs allege that their authorized representatives did not cooperate in establishing plaintiffs' Medicaid eligibility and defendants failed to render plaintiffs necessary assistance in establishing same.
Plaintiffs present the following claims based on these allegations: (1) defendants' policy of holding handicapped nursing home residents who apply for Medicaid benefits responsible for their authorized representatives' omissions, which policy is embodied in Ohio Public Assistance Manual (OPAM) § 1014.1, violates § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 794; (2) OPAM § 1014.1 violates §§ 1902(a)(8) and (19) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1396a(a)(8) and (19); (3) defendants' policy under § 1014.1 of failing to provide written notice of Medicaid eligibility determinations to handicapped nursing home Medicaid applicants or recipients who have appointed authorized representatives violates 42 U.S.C. § 1396(a)(8) and 42 C.F.R. § 435.912 and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; (4) OPAM § 1014.1, on its face and as applied, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; (5) defendants' policy of holding plaintiffs liable for omissions of their authorized representatives violates the Due Process Clause; and (6) defendants violated the Social Security Act, § 504, and the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses by applying OPAM § 1014.1 in a manner that denied plaintiffs assistance with the Medicaid application process solely on the basis of plaintiffs' handicaps, for which violations defendants are liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Plaintiffs seek to have the Court enjoin defendants from further implementing OPAM § 1014.1; grant a declaratory judgment that OPAM § 1014.1 violates the Social Security Act, § 504, and the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses; order defendants to establish an application procedure which assists plaintiffs in the Medicaid application process to assure they receive all Medicaid benefits to which they are entitled; and order defendants to reopen plaintiffs' denied applications and provide plaintiffs assistance in securing benefits.
Defendants move to dismiss the complaint or, in the alternative, for summary judgment on the grounds that: (1) this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over plaintiffs' claims of violations of the Social Security Act; (2) plaintiffs' claims are barred by the Eleventh Amendment; (3) plaintiffs have failed to exhaust their administrative remedies; (4) plaintiffs are not entitled to declaratory judgment; and (5) defendants have complied with all relevant constitutional and statutory provisions. Additionally, the WCDHS defendants contend that they cannot be held liable for complying with the challenged provisions of Ohio law in their administration of the Medicaid program.
Plaintiffs seek to have this action certified as a class action with the class consisting of all nursing home residents who have applied for or received Medicaid benefits but have been denied full participation in the Ohio Medicaid program solely because of defendants' application of § 1014.1. Without expressing an opinion on whether the requirements of Rule 23 have been met, the Court holds that class certification is inappropriate in this case. If granted, the declaratory and injunctive relief requested by plaintiffs would automatically accrue to the benefit of others similarly situated. Therefore, "no useful purpose would be served by permitting this case to proceed as a class action." Craft v. Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division, 534 F.2d 684, 686 (6th Cir.1976), aff'd, 436 U.S. 1, 98 S.Ct. 1554, 56 L.Ed.2d 30 (1978); Elam v. Barry, 656 F.Supp. 140 (S.D.Ohio 1986), reversed on other grounds, 841 F.2d 1297 (6th Cir.1988). Accordingly, plaintiffs' motion for class certification is hereby DENIED.
The summary judgment procedure under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 is designed to secure a just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of any action. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 327, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2554-55, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). However, Rule 56(c) permits the Court to grant summary judgment as a matter of law only after the moving party has identified as the basis of its motion "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any" which demonstrate the absence of any genuine issue of material fact. Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2553. The party opposing a properly supported motion for summary judgment "may not rest upon mere allegations or denials of his pleading, but ... must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (quoting First National Bank of Arizona v. Cities Service Co., 391 U.S. 253, 88 S.Ct. 1575, 20 L.Ed.2d 569 (1968)). The evidence of the nonmovant is to be believed and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in his favor. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. at 2513-14 (citing Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 158, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 1609, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970)). The function of the court is not to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. There is no genuine issue for trial unless there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. at 2510 (citing Cities Service, 391 U.S. at 288-289, 88 S.Ct. at 1592). If the evidence is merely colorable, Dombrowski v. Eastland, 387 U.S. 82, 87 S.Ct. 1425, 18 L.Ed.2d 577 (1967) or is not significantly probative, Cities Service, 391 U.S. at 290, 88 S.Ct. at 1593, judgment may be granted. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. at 2510.
Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b) and (c) provide that if matters outside the pleadings are presented to and not excluded by the Court in connection with a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss or 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings, respectively, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment. Defendants have submitted affidavits and other documents in support of their motions. Therefore, the motions shall be treated as motions for summary judgment.
Defendants contend that this Court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over plaintiffs' claims of violations of the Social Security Act. When a constitutional claim presented in a complaint is of sufficient substance to support the exercise of federal jurisdiction, the Court has the power to consider other claims that may not confer jurisdiction if the constitutional claim is not obviously without merit or is not rendered frivolous by previous decisions. Ball v. Harris, 498 F.Supp. 110, 113 (S.D.Ohio 1980) (Hogan, Sr. J.). Plaintiffs have raised other federal statutory and constitutional claims that are neither obviously without merit nor rendered frivolous by previous decisions. Such claims are sufficient to confer jurisdiction over plaintiffs' remaining claims.
Furthermore, one of the asserted jurisdictional bases of plaintiffs' claims is 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Section 1983 encompasses claimed violations of the Social Security Act. Maine v. Thiboutout, 448 U.S. 1, 100 S.Ct. 2502, 65 L.Ed.2d 555 (1980); Ball v. Harris, 498 F.Supp. at 112. Therefore, this Court has subject matter jurisdiction over plaintiffs' claims.
The Eleventh Amendment bars an action for damages that seeks a retroactive award requiring the payment...
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Eisfelder v. Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources
... ... See 42 U.S.C. § 2000d-7(a)(1); Cook v. Barry, 718 F.Supp. 632, 636 (S.D.Ohio 1989). Therefore, the eleventh amendment will not bar count II of this action ... Moreover, ... ...
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