Opinion
01-28-2016
In the Matter of COUNTY OF DELAWARE, Respondent, v. Howard A. ZUCKER, as Commissioner of Health, et al., Appellants.
Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General, Albany (Victor Paladino of counsel), for appellants. Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, LLP, Albany (Robert S. Rosborough IV of counsel) and Nancy R. Stormer, Utica, for respondent.
Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General, Albany (Victor Paladino of counsel), for appellants.
Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, LLP, Albany (Robert S. Rosborough IV of counsel) and Nancy R. Stormer, Utica, for respondent.
Before: PETERS, P.J., LAHTINEN, GARRY, ROSE and CLARK, JJ.
LAHTINEN, J.Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court (Lambert, J.), entered October 3, 2014 in Delaware County, which, among other things, partially granted petitioner's application, in a combined proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 and action for declaratory judgment, to, among other things, annul a determination of respondent Department of Health denying petitioner's claims for certain Medicaid reimbursements.
The issues in this Medicaid reimbursement case are largely controlled by a series of recent decisions of this Court, which were decided after Supreme Court's decision. Although Supreme Court incorrectly declared that the 2012 amendment to the Medicaid Cap Statute (see L. 2012, ch. 56, § 1, part D, § 61) was unconstitutional (see Matter of County of St. Lawrence v. Shah, 124 A.D.3d 88, 92, 998 N.Y.S.2d 474 [2014], lv. granted 25 N.Y.3d 903, 2015 WL 1526514 [2015] ; see also Matter of County of Chemung v. Shah, 124 A.D.3d 963, 964, 1 N.Y.S.3d 475 [2015], lv. granted 25 N.Y.3d 903, 2015 WL 1526043 [2015] ), it properly concluded that petitioner was entitled to reimbursement for pre–2006 overburden expenses since such claims were submitted within the six-month grace period (see Matter of County of Broome v. Shah, 130 A.D.3d 1347, 1347, 12 N.Y.S.3d 916 [2015] ; Matter of County of Chemung v. Shah, 124 A.D.3d at 964, 1 N.Y.S.3d 475 ). "[R]espondents' challenge to petitioner's capacity to bring this claim was waived by respondents' failure to raise capacity as a defense in their answer or a pre-answer motion to dismiss" (Matter of County of Chemung v. Shah, 124 A.D.3d at 964, 1 N.Y.S.3d 475 ; see Matter of County of Broome v. Shah, 130 A.D.3d at 1347–1348, 12 N.Y.S.3d 916 ). Finally, we agree with respondents that Supreme Court erred in directing them to pay interest on the reimbursement payments (see Signature Health Ctr., LLC v. State of New York, 92 A.D.3d 11, 17, 935 N.Y.S.2d 357 [2011], lv. denied 19 N.Y.3d 811, 2012 WL 3931114 [2012] ; Concourse Nursing Home v. State of New York, 1 A.D.3d 675, 677, 766 N.Y.S.2d 272 [2003], lv. denied 2 N.Y.3d 704, 780 N.Y.S.2d 310, 812 N.E.2d 1260 [2004] ).
ORDERED that the judgment is modified, on the law, without costs, by reversing so much thereof as (1) declared L. 2012, ch. 56, § 1, part D, § 61 to be unconstitutional, and (2) awarded interest, and, as so modified, affirmed.
PETERS, P.J., GARRY, ROSE and CLARK, JJ., concur.