Press release from the Indiana Family & Social Services Administration:
FSSA Receives Favorable Opinion in Anne W. Murphy and Patricia Casanova vs. Paul Terrell
(Indianapolis, December 16, 2010) – Today the Court of Appeals of Indiana reaffirmed the legality of Indiana’s past practice of conducting telephonic administrative hearings with unsuccessful applicants for Medicaid disability benefits.
From the ruling:
“Upon considering the relevant federal authorities together with the facts and circumstances presented in the instant matter, we conclude that telephonic hearings afford unsuccessful applicants with the opportunity to be heard in a reasonable manner, and, as a result, unsuccessful applicants for Medicaid disability benefits do not have a constitutional right to an in-person administrative hearing.3 See Goldberg, 397 U.S. at 267-68. Accordingly, we further conclude that the trial court erroneously granted summary judgment in favor of the Class on this ground and we reverse and remand this matter for the entry of summary judgment in favor of the State.”
Paul Terrell was represented by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney Gavin Rose, and the Family and Social Services Administration was represented by the Attorney General’s Office.