Doherty v. Director of the Office of Medicaid

Ullmann, Robert L., J.

A reformed trust can turn back the clock on certain legal decisions. However, it cannot resurrect the departed. Armed with a newly reformed trust instrument, plaintiffs have asked the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services (“EOHHS”) to reconsider its 2006 denial of Medicaid benefits to their deceased aunt, and reimburse them nearly $400,000 that their aunt paid to a nursing home. For reasons explained below, plaintiffs far-too-clever effort to obtain Medicaid funds must be denied, as they lack standing to apply for benefits.

Background

In 1981, Muriel…