74 A.D.2d 625 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1980
Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 to review a determination of the respondent State commissioner dated August 29, 1978 and made after a statutory fair hearing, which modified a determination of the local agency by further reducing the amount of medical assistance to be received by the petitioner. Petition granted to the extent that the determination is annulled, on the law, without costs or disbursements, and the matter is remanded to the respondents to determine the amount of medical assistance petitioner is to receive for the period from May 5, 1977 through June 4, 1977, in accordance herewith. Petitioner Samuel Moffett and his wife Sarah, while residing in Ireland, entered into negotiations for the purchase of a house in Newburgh, New York. The house was to be purchased "as is”. Mr. Moffett was fully aware that it had no plumbing system, heating system, septic system or other essential services. The Moffetts came to the United States on April 21, 1977 and gave a $1,000 down payment on the house the following day. Unfortunately, Mrs. Moffett became ill on April 22, 1977. She was admitted to St. Luke’s Hospital in Newburgh on April 24, 1977 and was treated for a lung infection. On May 5, 1977 she was transferred to Albert Einstein Medical College in New York City and, after open heart surgery, was released on June 5, 1977. Medical bills for her hospital stay totaled $24,341.15. The Moffetts applied for Medicaid on June 30, 1977. Prior to and during his wife’s illness, Mr. Moffett made a number of expenditures. On April 22, 1977, as indicated above, he made a $1,000 down payment on the house. He purchased a car ($1,850) and a trailer home ($1,600 to be used until the house was habitable) on April 30, 1977. In addition, contracts for the installation of essential improvements, such as heating, plumbing, and septic systems and a water well, were entered into with respect to the house. The Moffetts’ initial application for Medicaid was rejected by the local agency on August 18,1977 because, although Mrs. Moffett was certified as disabled under Federal supplemental security income criteria (see US Code, tit 42, § 1381 et seq.), they had excess resources available. A fair hearing was held and the State commissioner decided, on November 30, 1977, that the Moffetts were entitled to medical assistance for portions of the medical bills in excess of their available resources. The local agency recomputed the resources available and on March 30, 1978 determined that Mrs. Moffett was ineligible for medical assistance for bills incurred during