Maryland: ICF/ID admission determination requires due process

(from the VOR web site)

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals, in 2006, found in favor of Appellant, Mary Reese, who, on behalf of Virginia Massa, appealed the denial of Virginia’s admission to Holly Center, a state-operated Medicaid Intermediate Care Facility for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/ID).

The Court agreed that Virginia was denied procedural due process because the Statute only provided for a hearing if the Secretary approved admission; it did not require a hearing when an application for ICF/MR admission was denied. Because ICF/MR admission is a state benefit, applicants who may be eligible have an interest that cannot be taken away without due process. To the extent that the Statute does not provide for a hearing when admissions are denied, the statute is unconstitutional.  

 
The case is Mary L. Reese, Guardian v. Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2006).