Dear Lucas,
As you may know, the “Bipartisan Budget Act” enacted on December 26, 2013, included a provision overturning the unanimous 2006 US Supreme Court decision in Ahlborn - where the Court ruled that only the portion of the settlement that represented payment for medical expenses could be claimed by the state Medicaid agency.
This provision was set to go into effect on October 1 of this year. However, the “Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014” , signed into law on April 1, has extended by two years the date for implementation of the Ahlborn provision – which will now go into effect on October 1, 2016.
READ THE TEXT OF THE BIPARTISAN BUDGET ACT HERE
READ THE TEXT OF THE PROTECTING ACCESS TO MEDICARE ACT HERE
Special thanks to NYSTLA’s Medical Malpractice Committee Co-Chairs, Matthew Gaier and Jeffrey Bloom, for the time and hard work they have dedicated to protecting the rights of our clients who receive Medicaid. And thank you to AAJ for their continued efforts to address this harmful legislation in Washington D.C.
NYSTLA will continue to work with AAJ to eliminate this budget provision that unfairly targets clients receiving Medicaid before it is implemented.
Sincerely,
Michael S. Levine, Esq.
President
New York State Trial Lawyers Association