Hunter v. Chiles

• Decision Date: 24 October 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-6881-CIV.,95-6881-CIV.
• Citation: 944 F.Supp. 914
• Parties: Eric HUNTER and Cory Powell, Plaintiffs, v. Lawton CHILES, Doug Cook, Gary Crayton, and Gilbert Mitchell, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida

944 F.Supp. 914

Eric HUNTER and Cory Powell, Plaintiffs, v. Lawton CHILES, Doug Cook, Gary Crayton, and Gilbert Mitchell, Defendants.

No. 95-6881-CIV.

United States District Court, S.D. Florida.

October 24, 1996.

Juliette Lippman and Ellen Saideman, The Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, FL, for plaintiffs.

Chesterfield Smith, Jr., Office of the Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, for defendant Chiles.

Gordon B. Scott, Agency for Health Care Administration, Tallahassee, FL, for defendants Cook, Crayton and Mitchell.

FINAL ORDER

GONZALEZ, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE has come before the Court upon Defendants, Cook, Crayton and Mitchell's, Motion to Dismiss, Defendant Chiles' Motion to Dismiss, Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment, and Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification.

All motions have been fully briefed and are ripe for review. Additionally, there are no material factual disputes that exist in this case, the issues presented are questions of law and the case is ripe for adjudication.

The questions before the Court are whether federal law allows Florida to deny coverage of augmentative communication devices and services (ACDS) as durable medical equipment under its home health service program for its adult Medicaid recipients and whether Florida may deny coverage of ACDS for those under twenty-one (21) because of speculation that other payors may exist. The Court answers both of these in the negative.

I. FACTS

Plaintiffs Eric Hunter, age 22, and Cory Powell, age 7, are Medicaid recipients with severe speech disabilities. Both are unable to communicate either verbally or with hand gestures. Their treating professionals have determined that the only effective speech therapy for them is Augmentative Communication Devices and Services (ACDS) and that ACDS are therefore necessary for them. Without an ACDS, Plaintiffs are left without any oral speech or equipment for oral speech. Thus, they are predestined to depend on others and denied the opportunity to attain interdependence or self-care.

Plaintiffs, like many people with severe speech disabilities, are dependent on government benefits for access to ACDS which would allow them to communicate verbally. Plaintiff Hunter claims entitlement to an ACDS under Medicaid's Durable Medical Equipment program (DME); Plaintiff Powell claims entitlement under Medicaid's Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) program. Defendants have a policy of not covering ACDS under the Florida Medicaid program. Defendants contend that ACDS are not covered for adult Medicaid recipients, and are only covered for those under the age of twenty-one after all other funding sources have been exhausted.¹

II. MOTION TO DISMISS

Defendants argue that this case should be dismissed for three reasons: lack of venue, failure to state a claim and sovereign immunity.

A. Venue

This case can be brought in a judicial district where any defendant resides, if all defendants reside in the same State. 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b). Venue lies in the Southern District of Florida because all Defendants reside in Florida, Defendant Mitchell resides in the Southern District and the cause of action arose within the Southern District as to Plaintiff Hunter. Id. Thus, the motion to dismiss for lack of venue shall be denied.

B. Failure To State A Claim

When considering a motion to dismiss brought pursuant to 12(b)(6), a court must first accept all of the plaintiff's allegations as true. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974); Thomas v. Burlington Industries, Inc., 769 F.Supp. 368, 370 (S.D.Fla.1991). Consideration of matters beyond the four corners of the Complaint is improper. Milburn v. United States, 734 F.2d 762 (11th Cir.1984); Thomas, 769 F.Supp. at 370. A court should not grant a motion to dismiss unless the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim entitling him to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-02, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957).

The Court finds that the complaint clearly states causes of action against Defendants Cook, Crayton, and Mitchell. Thus, Defendants, Cook, Crayton, and Mitchell's, motion to dismiss pursuant to 12(b)(6) shall be denied.

Regarding Defendant Chiles, however, the Court finds that the Complaint fails to charge Defendant Chiles with the violation of any law or duty. Although the Complaint charges the "action of defendants" in paragraphs 45, 46, 49 and 52 is in violation of various federal statutes, it fails to allege precisely anything connecting Defendant, Governor Lawton Chiles to such obligational violations. The complaint merely alleges that "Governor Chiles has the responsibility to ensure that the agencies of the Executive Department of the State, including AHCA, act in full compliance with the Constitution and laws of the United States." Furthermore, it is not alleged that Defendant Chiles is factually or legally responsible for any program or activity that receives such funds or that he is responsible for AHCA's compliance with federal law or that he has any connection with or control over such program or activity. The Court finds that Plaintiffs have failed to state a claim which, if proven, would result in liability on the part of Defendant Chiles. Thus, Defendant Chiles' Motion to Dismiss shall be granted.

C. SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY

Defendants assert immunity based on Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, 517 U.S. ___, 116 S.Ct. 1114, 134 L.Ed.2d 252 (1996), and argue that the Eleventh Amendment applies and therefore, the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the Plaintiff's claims. The Seminole Court held that although Congress did intend to abrogate the State's sovereign immunity, Congress did not have the power to authorize suits by private parties against unconsenting States under the Indian Commerce Clause. The Supreme Court overruled Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co., 491 U.S. 1, 109 S.Ct. 2273, 105 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989), which held that Congress could authorize suits by private parties under the Interstate Commerce Clause.

A federal court has jurisdiction in a suit against a state officer, consistent with the Eleventh Amendment, to enjoin state officials to conform their future conduct to the requirements of federal law. Ex Parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 28 S.Ct. 441, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908); Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974). Although private individuals may not directly sue a state to enforce a provision of federal Medicaid law, they may sue state officials to obtain the same prospective relief. Such suits are not considered suits against the state itself and thus, are not barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Id.

In Seminole, the Supreme Court expressly acknowledges and affirms legal principles under which individuals have brought suits against state officials to enforce Federal Medicaid law. Seminole, at ___-___, and nn. 14, 16-17, 116 S.Ct. at 1131-32 and nn. 14, 16-17. Thus, the relevant law in this area is unchanged. In fact, the Court reaffirmed Congress does have the power to abrogate Eleventh Amendment immunity when legislating under the Fourteenth Amendment. Id. at ___, 116 S.Ct. at 1125.

Plaintiffs' claims were brought under the federal Medicaid law, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12131, et seq., and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794. Defendants admit Seminole does not apply to claims brought under the Fourteenth Amendment. However, Defendants erroneously contend that Plaintiffs claims were not brought pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment and that sovereign immunity has not been abrogated for the claims.

Congress explicitly abrogated the Eleventh Amendment in adopting the Americans with Disabilities Act. 42 U.S.C. § 12101(b)(4). The Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1986 specifically overrode the Eleventh Amendment for both the Rehabilitation Act and all other claims of discrimination, including claims of Medicaid Act discrimination. 42 U.S.C. § 2000d-7(a)(1). The Court finds that Plaintiffs' claims are authorized by the Fourteenth Amendment. Further, the Medicaid Act is authorized pursuant to the Spending Clause of the Constitution of the United States. The federal government can attach conditions to federal funds so as to require States to honor the obligations assumed as a condition of receiving the federal funds. Metrolina Family Practice Group, P.A. v. Sullivan, 767 F.Supp. 1314 (W.D.N.C. 1989), aff'd, 929 F.2d 693 (4th Cir.1991) (finding that Congressional control of federal funds is a valid exercise of the power of Congress under the Spending Clause). Therefore, Congress has both the power to authorize the § 1983 Medicaid Act claims and has abrogated the state's immunity from these claims.

The Court finds that the decision in Seminole does not affect the law governing whether individuals may bring suits to enforce the coverage of ACDS under Florida's Medicaid program. Under the doctrine of Ex parte Young the case is not foreclosed by the Eleventh Amendment because relief is limited to prospective injunctive relief. The holding in Seminole does not apply because Plaintiff's claims are authorized pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment and immunity has been abrogated. Therefore, the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss for sovereign immunity shall be denied.

III. MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

The Court may grant summary judgment "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The stringent burden of establishing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact lies with the moving party. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The...