Medicaid and Access to the Courts | Health Policy and Reform

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by Sara Rosenbaum, J.D. in New England Journal of Medicine

The Medicaid program is grounded in a statute that is one of the most complex of all federal laws. An insurer of more than 60 million people — and poised to begin serving 16 million more by 2019 — Medicaid will be reexamined this year, in all its legal complexities, by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has agreed to hear California’s appeal in the case Maxwell-Jolly v. Independent Living Center of Southern California. The Court’s ruling could fundamentally alter states’ accountability to beneficiaries and providers when their official conduct allegedly violates Medicaid’s essential federal requirements.

The Maxwell-Jolly case was precipitated by a series of deep cuts to provider payments that were enacted by the California legislature and aimed at services used predominantly by the state’s most severely disabled beneficiaries. The payment reductions were halted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, but this action by no means ended the dispute. Indeed, the question before the Supreme Court is of far greater consequence than that of specific provider payments: it is whether beneficiaries and providers have the right to seek judicial redress when they allege that state conduct abridges federal law and threatens health and safety.
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Grandparents Rights » Grandparents custody: what is it and why?

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from CaringGrandparents.com

A grandparent may seek legal custody of their grandchildren for numerous reasons. The simplicity or complexity of this will depend on individual circumstances and whether or not both the parents and grandparents agree that the children should be in the custody of the grandparents.

Legal custody is awarded by the courts and is not merely a written agreement between two parties. If both parties are not in agreement, the grandparent or other relative must prove to the court that it is in the best interest of the child or children to be raised by someone other than the parent.

If neglect or abuse of a child is suspected, it should be reported to the Department of Social Services. It is also important to record and document any reasons why a child should be removed from the custody of his or her parents. This is not a decision that a court makes lightly and supporting evidence must be presented by a relative when seeking custody of a child.

When a person or couple becomes the custodian of a child, this does not legally sever other family relationships as in the case of adoption and may be reversed at a later time when circumstances change.
Grandparents Rights » Grandparents custody: what is it and why?

For war protester Eve Tetaz, 78 is hardly the time to retire - washingtonpost.com

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By Keith L. Alexander Washington Post Staff Writer

It's a familiar scene for Eve Tetaz. She sits in the cold, damp holding cell, crammed together with other women. Some, like her, were arrested for protesting. Others are locked up for drugs, assault or prostitution.

The other women in the D.C. jail affectionately call her grandma. Her cellmates, or as she calls them, her "sisters in chains," let her sleep on the bottom bunk so the 78-year-old doesn't have to climb to the top. Instead of letting her stand in line to get her jail-issued bologna or cheese sandwiches, many of the women bring them to her. "These are women I probably even wouldn't see passing on the street," Tetaz said. "They are very gracious to me."

With her white hair and black glasses, Tetaz is a familiar figure to the Capitol Police and at the courthouse. Since 2005, court records show, she has been arrested 20 times and convicted 14 times of various offenses, including unlawful assembly, disorderly conduct, contempt and crossing a police line. As she and other demonstrators march around various parts of the District, from the White House to the Supreme Court to the Capitol, her protests center on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

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Court Building Now Also Houses Mental Health Clinic

"There is a real need in D.C. Superior Court when people come to see if there is extra mental health services that can be provided to help them get back on their feet," Fenty (D) said as he toured the clinic, which is staffed by a psychiatrist, social workers and other mental health professionals 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Magistrate Judge Michael J. McCarthy's courtroom is next door. The clinic is already filled with people charged with misdemeanor crimes who need mental health treatment, he said. "You can see the result of working together with the Department of Mental Health" and the Psychiatric Institute staff, said McCarthy, who yesterday referred a man in his courtroom for treatment.