Brown v. Magnant

773 F. Supp. 1164, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19244, 1990 WL 306076
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedAugust 9, 1990
DocketIP 78-773-C
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 773 F. Supp. 1164 (Brown v. Magnant) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown v. Magnant, 773 F. Supp. 1164, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19244, 1990 WL 306076 (S.D. Ind. 1990).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ENTRY

NOLAND, District Judge.

The facts of this case are set forth in this Court’s Judgment Entry dated March 15, 1979, and Memorandum Opinion and Order dated February 16, 1979 (collectively referred to as the “1979 Judgment”), Brown v. Stanton, 617 F.2d 1224 (7th Cir. 1980) (“Brown I”), and Brown v. Smith, 662 F.2d 464 (7th Cir.1981) (“Brown II”); therefore, the Court will not repeat them here.

This case is before the court on the plaintiffs’ “Motion to Show Cause Why Defendant Stanton Should Not be Held in Contempt of this Court” and the defendants’ “Petition for Relief from Judgment.” The only question presented by these motions is whether the state of Indiana, through its Department of Public Welfare, has complied with this Court’s 1979 Judgment, and, if not, whether that judgment ought to be modified in light of subsequent events. For the reasons that follow, the Court finds that the state defendant has failed to fully comply with this Court’s 1979 Judgment. The Court also finds, however, that the Court’s 1979 Judgment granting permanent injunctive relief must be modified in light of subsequent changes in the law.

I. The 1979 Judgment

This case originally presented two questions relating to the state of Indiana’s practice of “deeming” certain income and resources belonging to the spouse of a Medicaid recipient or applicant who has been institutionalized due to illness.

“Deeming,” in the parlance of the Social Security laws and regulations, means that a State determines eligibility by assuming that a portion of the spouse’s income is “available” to the applicant. Because an individual’s eligibility for Medicaid benefits depends in part on the financial resources that are “available” to him, “deeming ... has the effect of reducing both the number of eligible individuals and the amount of assistance paid to those who qualify.”

Herweg v. Ray, 455 U.S. 265, 267, 102 S.Ct. 1059, 1062, 71 L.Ed.2d 137 (1982) (quoting Schweiker v. Gray Panthers, 453 U.S. 34, 36, 101 S.Ct. 2633, 2636, 69 L.Ed.2d 460 (1981)).

The first issue originally presented was whether the state of Indiana could “deem” income and resources of non-institutionalized spouses as available to their institutionalized spouses (Medicaid recipients) by using a fixed formula that did not take into consideration the actual needs of the non-institutionalized spouse. In Brown I, supra, the Seventh Circuit referred to this issue as the first level inquiry. The second issue was whether the State could “deem” income and resources of non-institutionalized spouses to their institutionalized spouses (Medicaid recipients), even though the income and resources “deemed” were not actually paid to the institutionalized spouse. This was referred to as the second level inquiry. 1

*1166 In its 1979 Judgment, this Court addressed only the first level inquiry. The Court held that an individualized factual finding of a non-institutionalized spouse’s “needs” was necessary before the state could “deem” a portion of his or her income or resources as available to the institutionalized spouse. The Court found that the fixed formula used by the State, which did not take into consideration a non-institutionalized spouse’s actual needs, was contrary to the provisions of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq. This Court did not address the second level inquiry as to whether the state may “deem” income and resources that are not actually paid to the institutionalized spouse.

Thus, in its 1979 Judgment, the Court did not hold that “deeming” was a per se violation of the Social Security Act, nor did it hold that the State may not seek contributions from a non-institutionalized spouse. Rather, the Court held that the method then employed by the state to carry out its practice of “deeming” resources and income of the non-institutionalized spouse was in violation of the Social Security Act. Specifically, the Court stated: “It is the arbitrariness and irrebuttable presumptiveness of the established limits as applied to any given case that renders the challenged state regulations invalid.” Id. at 1227. The Court then granted the plaintiffs’ request for a permanent injunction prohibiting the State from enforcing its “deeming” regulations.

After finding the state’s regulations invalid, the Court proposed a statutory scheme whereby the state could comply with the provisions of the Social Security Act:

Thus, to comply with the requirements of Section 1396a(a)(17) of the Social Security Act, the Indiana Department of Public Welfare’s regulations that establish guidelines for determining what re sources and income are reasonably available must provide for a factual determination in each case that gives “due consideration to the individual’s obligations and the particular needs of each spouse and family.” Such regulations will thereby provide guidelines for determining what resources and income are actually available and will be free of the infirmities that plague the present regulations, which only allow for a determination of what resources and income are considered available. The contemplated scheme would allow the state to require proof of the particular needs and individual obligations of each spouse and family, and would then deduct these verified sums from the existing resources and income to determine the amount, if any, that is reasonably available for support of the institutionalized spouse.

Id. at 7 (emphasis added) (citations omitted). The issue presently before this Court is whether the state defendant has complied with this Court’s 1979 Judgment, and, if not, whether the judgment ought to be modified. More specifically, the issue is whether the state defendant has complied with the resources (as opposed to the income) provision of this Court’s earlier judgment. 2

II. The Appeals

After this Court’s 1979 Judgment, the plaintiffs appealed, among other things, this Court’s refusal to rule on the issue relating to the second level of deeming. The defendants did not appeal. In Brown 1, the Seventh Circuit’s first opinion in this case, the court affirmed this Court’s judgment granting the plaintiffs relief on their claim relating to the first level of deeming. However, the Seventh Circuit went even further.

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Related

Dullard v. Minnesota Dept. of Human Services
529 N.W.2d 438 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1995)
CHERRY BY CHERRY v. Magnant
832 F. Supp. 1271 (S.D. Indiana, 1993)
Cherry ex rel. Cherry v. Magnant
832 F. Supp. 1271 (S.D. Indiana, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
773 F. Supp. 1164, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19244, 1990 WL 306076, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-magnant-insd-1990.