Leslie Wheaton v. John McCarthy

OPINION

KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judge.

Ask 100 Americans whether a 74 year-old man’s “family” includes his wife who lives with him, and every one of those Americans will likely answer yes. But here the Ohio Department of Medicaid answered no, with the result that it denied Joe Turner’s application for benefits under the Medicaid Act. That Act requires States who receive Medicaid funding to provide certain low-income Medicare beneficiaries with financial assistance to help pay their out-of-pocket Medicare costs. Under federal law, to determine whether a beneficiary is eligible for such assistance,…