The Bureau of TennCare (Tennessee's Medicaid agency) filed an estate recovery claim against the estate of a community spouse to recover funds it spent on medical assistance for an institutionalized spo...use. We argued that this violates 42 U.S.C. section 1396p because federal law permits only three limited exceptions to the rule that States cannot attach the estate of of a Medicaid applicant following death and a claim against the community spouse is not one of those exceptions. The Case was argued to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. A decision was issued in favor of the estate, denying TennCare's claim on November 1, 2006. Case No. M2005-01410-COA-R3-CV. The opinion is available at: http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/OPINIONS/TCA/PDF/064/SmithJCOpn.pdf.
Litigation
Gee v. Reingold
Feb 26, 2003
OUTCOME: Judgment for Defendant
A corporation filed a complaint in the Superior Court of Dade County, Georgia, to domesticate a Wisconsin judgment against plaintiff cable supplier. The supplier filed a third-party complaint against d...efendant attorney for breach of contract, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty, for allowing a default judgment to be entered against him. The attorney's motion to dismiss for want of personal jurisdiction was granted. The supplier appealed. The supplier claimed that the trial court erred in ruling that it lacked personal jurisdiction to hear and decide his breach of contract claim against the attorney. The appellate court held that the trial court correctly concluded that it did not have personal jurisdiction over the attorney on the basis of his having transacted business in Georgia. The only Georgia-based contacts between the supplier and the attorney with respect to the Wisconsin lawsuit were telephone conversations and facsimile transmissions between the supplier in Georgia and the attorney in Tennessee, which were initiated by the supplier. Further, the tortious act at issue did not occur in Georgia for purposes of O.C.G.A. § 9-10-91. The lawsuit which the supplier claimed the attorney handled negligently was filed in Wisconsin and the default judgment was entered there. Finally, the attorney did not maintain an office in Georgia, advertise in Georgia, derive a substantial income from services rendered in Georgia, or engage in a persistent course of conduct within Georgia. Accordingly, the attorney had done none of the acts which had to be done to subject him to the personal jurisdiction of a Georgia court.
Nursing home abuse and neglect
Brogdon v. National Healthcare Corporation
Jan 01, 2002
OUTCOME: Motion to Dismiss grnt'd in part denied in part
This was a nursing home negligence case brought on behalf of a group of residents. There was related litigation in the Superior Court for Catoosa County, Georgia. Plaintiffs sued the nursing home for f...ailing to provide the minimal level of care reuired under the Medicare Act and the Medicaid Act. The Court held that the Act did not create a private cause of action. However, it held that Plaintiffs had stated claims under State law and that it was a question of State law as to whether the Medicare and Medicaid Acts set the applicable standard of care. See 103 F. Supp.2d 1322
