Commissioner of the Department of Social Services v. Spellman

OPINION OF THE COURT

Jane S. Solomon, J.

This action by the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services of the City of New York (the Department) against defendant Benjamin Spellman is brought to recover benefits paid under the auspices of the Federal Medical Assistance program (Medicaid) for the care of defendant’s wife, who is in a nursing home. Mr. Spellman moves to dismiss, raising an issue of first impression: whether, under the Social Services Law, the Department may recover the Medicaid assistance paid for the care of an institutionalized spouse from the community spouse, or whether…