The Public Justice Center is looking for organizations interested in protecting the constitutional rights of individuals who receive healthcare assistance from the State of Maryland to sign-on to a brief the PJC will file in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. The PJC will be filing a friend-of-the-court or amicus curiae brief in the case of David Brooks v. Maryland Health Insurance Program, No. 08-1774. The Maryland Health Insurance Program (MHIP) is the insurer of last resort in Maryland and only provides coverage to residents who have pre-existing or chronic conditions that render the residents uninsurable in the private market. Mr. Brooks suffers from a number of chronic conditions and was insured by MHIP since 2003. In 2007, he was notified by MHIP’s administrator that his coverage was being terminated because the agency no longer considered Mr. Brooks a Maryland resident – despite the fact that Mr. Brooks has listed his residential address asColumbia, Md; his car is registered and insured in Maryland; he pays Maryland taxes; and he is registered to vote in Maryland. MHIP allowed Mr. Brooks to appeal the initial decision but did not grant him a hearing in which he could have presented further proof of his Maryland residency and challenge the evidentiary basis of the administrator’s decision. Mr. Brooks appealed to the Circuit Court of BaltimoreCounty, which affirmed the agency’s decision. The circuit court’s decision is attached to this email. Mr. Brooks has now appealed to the Court of Special Appeals.
The Public Justice Center is leading a group of organizations in filing a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Mr. Brooks. The brief will emphasize two points:
1) The importance of State insurer-of-last-resort health insurance plans like MHIP to individuals who suffer from chronic conditions (i.e., a pre-existing condition makes it almost impossible for uninsured individuals to find insurance beyond the state plan, and lack of insurance can easily lead individuals with a chronic condition into bankruptcy and/or poverty because of an inability to pay medical bills).
2) The essential nature of an agency hearing to the due process rights of individuals such as Mr. Brooks who face termination of a public benefit.
The brief must be filed in the Court of Special Appeals on April 13. A draft of the brief will be available for your review on April 8. If your organization is interested in reviewing the draft brief and signing-on, please contact Matt Hill, hillm@publicjustice.orgas soon as possible.
Thanks!
Robyn Kaplan
Medicaid Matters! Maryland
410-707-7845 (cell)
The Public Justice Center is leading a group of organizations in filing a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Mr. Brooks. The brief will emphasize two points:
1) The importance of State insurer-of-last-resort health insurance plans like MHIP to individuals who suffer from chronic conditions (i.e., a pre-existing condition makes it almost impossible for uninsured individuals to find insurance beyond the state plan, and lack of insurance can easily lead individuals with a chronic condition into bankruptcy and/or poverty because of an inability to pay medical bills).
2) The essential nature of an agency hearing to the due process rights of individuals such as Mr. Brooks who face termination of a public benefit.
The brief must be filed in the Court of Special Appeals on April 13. A draft of the brief will be available for your review on April 8. If your organization is interested in reviewing the draft brief and signing-on, please contact Matt Hill, hillm@publicjustice.org
Thanks!
Robyn Kaplan
Medicaid Matters! Maryland
410-707-7845 (cell)
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