A.M.C. v. Smith

Overview

(U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, August 26, 2024): In a class action case brought on behalf of thousands of plaintiffs, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee found that TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid program, violated federal statutes and the Constitution in terminating or wrongly denying coverage to Medicaid beneficiaries and applicants. The Court ruled in favor of the class on myriad issues, including that TennCare 1) failed to determine applicants’ eligibility for different categories in Medicaid before terminating them; 2) did not provide applicants with required notice about their eligibility results or provided misleading notice; 3) denied applicants the opportunity to contest eligibility determinations; and 4) discriminated on the basis of disability. The first three findings are based on federal law and the Due Process Clause of the Constitution, and the fourth finding is based on the Americans with Disabilities Act. With these legal findings, the Court will now shift to determining the remedy for the statutory and constitutional violations that harmed thousands of Tennesseans for many years. Read the full opinion here.

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