New York City's Medicaid Fair Hearing Office has moved!

New York City's Medicaid Fair Hearing Division and Conference Unit will be relocating from 330 West 34th Street, 3rd floor in Manhattan to 111 Livingston Street, 4th floor in Brooklyn effective Friday, March 25, 2011. This also includes all Medicaid and Medicaid home care fair hearings (located at 111 Livingston Street, 5th floor). Please note that this building has its main entrance at 14 Boerum Place.

Because of the relocation, no Medicaid fair hearings will be held on Friday, March 25th or Monday, March 28th.  Both the Fair Hearing Division and the Conference Unit will re-open on Tuesday, March 29, 2011.

To contact someone in the Conference or Rivera** Units or to request an evidence packet, please note their new contact information:

• Conference Unit Tel: 718-637-2426

• Rivera Unit  (The Rivera unit** receives and processes requests for documents needed to prepare for a fair hearing, named after a lawsuit that established timelines for HRA to respond to these requests -- see more below) 
  • Medicaid Rivera Unit Fax: 718-722-7565
  • Medicaid Rivera Unit Tel:  718-637-2425 

With recent requests, the Rivera Unit has enclosed a letter informing attorneys and representatives of the relocation. This letter also indicates that requests for evidence packets for Medicaid issues should not be sent to the Public Assistance Rivera Unit as this will cause delays. 

HRA's Medical Insurance and Community Services Administration has also issued a Medicaid Alert on March 16, 2011 notifying individuals of these changes.

The CASA office and Medicaid contact lists have been updated to include these changes.

** A fair hearing appellant is entitled to receive copies of evidence packets and other identified documents pursuant to the regulations. 18 N.Y.C.R.R. §358-3.7(b): A sample form that you can adapt for requesting documents for a fair hearing can be downloaded here.  

18 N.Y.C.R.R. §358-3.7(b)(1) Upon request, you have a right to be provided at a reasonable time before the date of the hearing, at no charge, with copies of all documents which the social services agency will present at the fair hearing in support of its determination. If the request for copies of documents which the social services agency will present at the hearing is made less than five business days before the hearing, the social services agency must provide you with such copies no later than at the time of the hearing. If you or your representative request that such documents be mailed, such documents must be mailed within a reasonable time from the date of the request; provided however, if there is insufficient time for such documents to be mailed and received before the scheduled date of the hearing such documents may be presented at the hearing instead of being mailed;

(2) Upon request, you have the right to be provided at a reasonable time before the date of the hearing, at no charge, with copies of any additional documents which you identify and request for purposes of preparing for your fair hearing. If the request for copies of documents is made less than five business days before the hearing, the social services agency must provide you with such copies no later than at the time of the hearing. If you or your representative request that such documents be mailed, such documents must be mailed within a reasonable time from the date of the request; provided however, if there is insufficient time for such documents to be mailed and received before the scheduled date of the hearing such documents may be presented at the hearing instead of being mailed;

(3) Your request for copies of documents pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subdivision may at your option be made in writing, or orally, including by telephone.

(4) If the social services agency fails to comply with the requirements of this subdivision the hearing officer may adjourn the case, allow a brief recess for the appellant to review the documents, preclude the introduction of the documents where a delay would be prejudicial to the appellant, or take other appropriate action to ensure that the appellant is not harmed by the agency's failure to comply with these requirements. 

The lawsuit Rivera v. Bane was  discontinued effective March 9, 2011 by a Stipulation of Dismissal and Discontinuance entered on March 9, 2011.  A working group of staff from the New York Legal Assistance Group,  the Legal Aid Society, Legal Services NYC, the Urban Justice Center, and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice has been convened to consider best practices for fair hearing advocacy when HRA fails to comply with the regulation concerning obtaining evidence packets and other identified documents under the regulations.