United States Second Circuit

In a dispute involving Medicaid benefits, district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants on plaintiff's challenge to the State Medicaid Manual is affirmed where: 1) the court did not err in allowing defendants to rely on the State Medical Manual sec. 3259.7 in treating as income his monthly contribution of SSDI benefits to a Special Needs Trust in determining the extent of Medicaid benefits to which he was entitled, as SMM sec. 3259.7 does not conflict with the plain language of 42 U.S.C. sec. 1396p(d), and Skidmore deference is warranted to the issuance of the statute as an exercise of discretion to fill a gap left by Congress on the issue; and 2) plaintiffs procedural challenge to 42 C.F.R. sec. 435.832 is time-barred.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/22/2009
• Published 06/22/2009

Judges

• REENA RAGGI, Circuit Judge:, Before:  CABRANES, RAGGI, and HALL, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Aytan Yehoshua Bellin, White Plains, N.Y. (Rene H. Reixach, Jr., Rochester, NY, on the brief), for Plaintiff-Appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Carolina A. Fornos, Assistant United States Attorney (Elizabeth Wolstein, Assistant U.S. Attorney, on the brief), for Lev Dassin, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, for Defendant-Appellee Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, United States Department of Health and Human Services., Carol Fischer, Assistant Solicitor General (Michael Belohlavek, Senior Counsel, Division of Appeals & Opinions, on the brief), for Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General of the State of New York, for Defendant-Appellee Richard F. Daines, M.D., Commissioner, New York State Department of Health., Janet Z. Zaleon (Kristen M. Helmers and Marilyn Richter, on the brief), for Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, for Defendant-Appellee Robert Doar, Commissioner, New York City Human Resources Administration.