Godaire v. Dept. of Social Services

Syllabus

The plaintiff appealed to this court from the judgment of the trial court dismissing his administrative appeal from the decision of the defendant Department of Social Services discontinuing the plaintiff's medical bene- fits under a medical assistance program for the aged, blind and disabled on the ground that he had not met the program's spenddown require- ments. Prior to an administrative hearing on the matter, the Department of Social Services redetermined that the plaintiff, who was eighty-two years old at the time, was eligible for the program's benefits under a spenddown totaling $1929.72 for the period March, 2015, through August, 2015. The plaintiff previously was granted coverage under the program from August, 2014, to January, 2015, and certain dental work was to be included in that coverage. Because the dental work would not be completed until the second week of February, beyond the coverage date, a department employee extended the plaintiff's coverage under the program for one month to include February. At the hearing held on April 1, 2015, an eligibility specialist for the department told the hearing officer that the department's reinstatement of the plaintiff's benefits for one month had to be corrected, and following the hearing, a corrected eligibility document was submitted to the hearing officer indicating that the plaintiff's spenddown period would run from February, 2015, to July, 2015, rather than from March, 2015, to August, 2015. The hearing officer denied the plaintiff's appeal from the discontinuation of his medical benefits and concluded that the department correctly determined that the plaintiff had to meet a spenddown to receive the program's coverage beginning February, 2015. The plaintiff thereafter, pursuant to statute (§ 4-183), filed his administrative appeal from the hearing officer's deci- sion in the Superior Court in the judicial district of New London. Subse- quently, the trial court transferred the appeal to the Tax and Adminis