Advocates Litigate to Improve Access to Health Care for Children

As advocates across the country encourage legislators to create innovative health care plans in their states, they can look to the courts for help, following the lead of health care advocates in Illinois. In 2004 a groundbreaking federal class action lawsuit, Memisovski v. Maram, established that Illinois was violating the Medicaid Act by failing to establish a system to deliver health care to all covered children. This decision led to a negotiated settlement offering comprehensive new policies ensuring preventive care to all Illinois children with Medicaid.

The May–June 2007 issue of Clearinghouse Review: Journal of Poverty Law and Policy’s article “Litigation to Improve Access to Health Care for Children: Lessons from Memisovski v. Maram” describes the ideas that went into building the record, the decision, the outcomes, and the lessons learned in the process. John Bouman, president of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law and cocounsel on the lawsuit, explains the lawsuit’s challenges such as the enforceability of plaintiffs’ rights, naming plaintiffs and trial witnesses, and using the state’s own data against itself. In their detailed description of the case, Bouman and coauthors and cocounsel Frederick H. Cohen and David J. Chizewer of Goldberg Kohn and Stephanie Altman and Thomas Yates of Health and Disability Associates suggest how such challenges can be handled.

Lack of access to health care confines people to poverty by limiting their education, employment, and family assets, and reforming the nation’s health care system is an essential step in helping Americans move out of poverty. In view of this, “Litigation to Improve Access to Health Care for Children” shows that the judicial system is an important route for advocates to take to improve health care.

Published by the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, the May–June 2007 Clearinghouse Review features the following other articles by advocates and attorneys nationwide:

·    “Against Employer Retaliation: Protecting Low-Wage Workers Who Oppose Sex Discrimination” by Michael I. Marsh and Evangelina Fierro Hernandez
·    “The Modern-Day Poll Tax: How Economic Sanctions Block Access to the Polls” by Erika L. Wood and Neema Trivedi
·    “Preserving Tribal Families, Culture, and Communities: California’s Legislation to Enforce the Indian Child Welfare Act” by Maureen Geary and Mark Radoff
·    “Wait a Minute: Slowing Down Criminal-Activity Eviction Cases to Find the Truth” by Lawrence R. McDonough and Mac McCreight
·    “‘I Just Need More Time’: Making the Case for an Extension of Time to Vacate a Rental Unit as a Reasonable Accommodation” by Nisha N. Vyas
·    “Affirmatively Litigating: How the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Require Early Case Planning: The Rule 26(f) Conference” by Greg Bass
·    “Medicare Coverage of Dental Care Following Radiation Treatment and Chemotherapy” by Sally Hart and Jamie L. Wyman
·    “Left Behind Before Katrina and Left Behind After” by William P. Quigley

Published bimonthly by the Shriver Center, the Review is an advocate’s best resource for information on developments in poverty law. Each issue of the Review features in-depth, analytical articles, written by experts in their fields, on topics of interest to poor people’s and public interest lawyers. Substantive areas covered include civil rights, family law, disability, domestic violence, housing, elder law, employment, health, and welfare reform. The Review also includes case notes written by legal aid attorneys from across the country.

To subscribe to the Review, go to www.povertylaw.org.