Disabled Rights Union v. Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Kenneth Kizer State of California

Federal disability determinations control state Medicaid. The district court enjoined a change in the notice which the Social Security Administration sends when it cuts off “supplementary security income” (SSI), the federal disability program. The Social Security Administration, in accord with its governing statute, uses a notice form which says that appeals must be within sixty days. The court required that the state give notice that appeals from the federal denial could be at the later of sixty days from the federal denial, or sixty days from when the State of California gave notice that Medi-Cal (the state Medicaid program) would be cut off. We cannot find a legal basis for this exten sion of the appeal time on federal disability denials, so we reverse.

FACTS

Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) provides medical benefits to disabled people. “Supplemental security income” (SSI) is a federal program which pays social security benefits to disabled people. 42 U.S.C. § 1381 . The State of California, not the federal government, administers Medi-Cal, although it receives federal funding and must follow federal regulations. The State cuts off Medicaid if the federal social security…