On June 19, 2002, an elderly woman with advanced dementia filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Medicaid statute, and the 5th and 14th amendments, against the Connecticut Department of Human Services and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Plaintiff, represented by private counsel, asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief, claiming that Medicaid would not meet her specialized medical needs. At the time of filing, Plaintiff resided in an assisted living facility; she was paying those costs from her own assets, which were rapidly depleting. Plaintiff claimed that she would be forced to move to a nursing home, which would not meet her medical needs, because Medicaid did not cover services provided in an assisted living facility.

On November 3, 2004, the Court (Judge Christopher F. Droney) issued a ruling on motions to dismiss and for a preliminary injunction. Leocata v. Wilson-Coker, 343 F.Supp.2d 144 (D. Conn. Nov. 3, 2004). The Court granted Defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of standing and failure to state a claim, denied Plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction, and directed the Clerk to enter judgment in favor of Defendants and close the case. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment in a summary order on December 7, 2005. There has been no further action in the case.

Haley Waller - 02/13/2011


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