Wong v. Doar, No. 08-4992

In a dispute involving Medicaid benefits, district court's grant of  summary judgment in favor of defendants on plaintiff's challenge to the State Medicaid Manual is affirmed where: 1) the court did not err in allowing defendants to rely on the State Medical Manual sec. 3259.7 in treating as income his monthly contribution of SSDI benefits to a Special Needs Trust in determining the extent of Medicaid benefits to which he was entitled, as SMM sec. 3259.7 does not conflict with the plain language of 42 U.S.C. sec. 1396p(d), and Skidmore deference is warranted to the issuance of the statute as an exercise of discretion to fill a gap left by Congress on the issue; and 2) plaintiffs procedural challenge to 42 C.F.R. sec. 435.832 is time-barred

Read Wong v. Doar, No. 08-4992

Appellate Information
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Argued: February 23, 2009
Decided: June 22, 2009

Judges
Before CABRANES, RAGGI, and HALL, Circuit Judges.
Opinion by REENA RAGGI, Circuit Judge.

Counsel
For Appellant: Aytan Yehoshua Bellin, Bellin & Associates LLC, White Plains, New York

For Appellee:
Carolina A. Fornos, Assistant United States Attorney. Carol Fischer, Assistant Solicitor General. Janet Z. Zaleon, New York City Law Dept., New York, NY