February 2007
Protection and Advocacy Inc. (PAI) is a statewide disability rights law firm that advocates for people with disabilities on a variety of issues. They ask for feedback from community members to assess whether systems are working the way they should. I wish more organizations had the time and resources to do that.
PAI is currently suing the State of California for its significant delays in making Medi-Cal eligibility decisions for people with disabilities. Thousands of people have been waiting for months beyond the 90 days within which the law says the State has to make its decision, and have been going without adequate medical and mental health care as a result.
They would like to speak to people who applied for Medi-Cal on the basis of disability (with or without applying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI)), and whose application has not been processed for 90 days or more.
If you or someone you know fits the following profile, they would like to speak with you;
- Applied for Medi-Cal based on disability;
- Application has been pending more than 90 days and the delay is not due to the applicant, the applicant's provider or the County;
- Applicant is experiencing or will experience harm due to the delay. Harm can be:
- The applicant having to pay for all or part of his/her necessary medical care and as a result, has not had money for necessities (food, clothing, shelter, etc.)
- The applicant being forced to rely on (or purposefully avoiding) a County health care system that:
- does not cover the medically necessary things that Medi-Cal would;
- will make him/her personally liable to repay the costs of care;
- is too far away or lacking in providers to meet his/her needs.
They are interested in speaking to people who are currently receiving Medi-Cal, but whose applications took more than 90 days to decide and who suffered some irreparable harm as a result of the delay, for example they could not get a medically necessary test or procedure.
Please contact Michelle Uzeta, Associate Managing Attorney at (213) 427-8747 or via email at michelle.uzeta@pai-ca.org. For more information on Protection and Advocacy Inc. log on to www.pai-ca.org.