Doherty v. Director of the Office of Medicaid

We are once again called upon to resolve the conflict between the Legislature’s explicit direction that Medicaid benefits be made available only “to people who do not have sufficient income or resources to provide for themselves,” Cohen v. Commissioner of the Div. of Med. Assistance, 423 Mass. 399, 404 (1996), cert. denied sub nom. Kokoska, by Kokoska v. Bullen, 519 U.S. 1057 (1997), quoting from H.R. Rep. No. 265, 99th Cong., 1st Sess., pt. 1, at 72 (1985), and the desire of “persons with some means, perhaps even considerable means, to preserve their assets in the face of the large medical…