Paschall v. District of Columbia Department of Health

No. 03-AA-1347 (D.C. Ct. App. April 7, 2005) ; Clearinghouse Number: 55943

Description

Administrative Law Judge May Order Illegally Discharged Patient’s Readmission to Medicaid-Certified Nursing Home

Abstract

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled that administrative law judge had authority to order readmission of a patient who had been illegally discharged from a Medicaid-participating nursing facility. Petitioner received a notice of discharge from the facility while he was in a hospital for treatment of abdominal pain. Petitioner submitted a motion to quash and requested a hearing on the sufficiency of the notice. Administrative law judge found the notice deficient and the discharge illegal but, pursuant to a District of Columbia statute that reserved equity jurisdiction in such cases to the superior court, said that he could not order petitioner’s readmission. Although the statute did not explicitly grant administrative law judge authority to order readmission, the appellate court found such authority to be implicit. The appellate court mockingly rejected health department’s argument that administrative law judge had authority to order readmission only after a hearing on the merits, not on a finding of defective notice. Administrative law judge’s authority to order readmission before or after hearing was, the appellate court continued, explicit in the federal regulations governing discharges from Medicare- and Medicaid-participating facilities; the regulations were incorporated into the District of Columbia statute. The appellate court ruled in the case despite the case’s apparent mootness because it raised issues important to the resolution of a class of future cases.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Petitioner represented by Rhonda Dahlman, AARP Legal Counsel for the Elderly/Ombudsman Program, 601 E St. NW, Washington, DC 20049.
Docket Date
2005-04-07 00:00:00+00:00
Attorney Email
rdahlman@aarp.org

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