In the Matter of County of Broome, Respondent,v.Nirav R. Shah,, et al., Appellants.BriefN.Y.February 14, 2017THE CAPITOL, ALBANY, NEW YORK 12224-0341• PHONE (518) 776-2050 • FAX (518) 915-7724*NOT FOR SERVICE OF PAPERS http://www.oag.state.ny.us STATE OF NEW YORK OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC T. SCHNEIDERMAN ATTORNEY GENERAL APPEALS AND OPINIONS Telephone (518) 776-2012 November 17, 2016 Hon. John P. Asiello Clerk of the Court State of New York, Court of Appeals Clerk‘s Office Albany, NY 12207-1095 Re: Matter of County of Broome v. Shah APL-2016-00201 Dear Mr. Asiello: Appellants—the New York State Department of Health and its Commissioner— submit this letter under section 500.11 of this Court’s Rules of Practice in support of their appeal in this matter. Summary disposition of this appeal is appropriate because the issues presented are controlled by this Court’s recent decision in Matter of County of Chemung v. Shah, ___ N.Y.3d ___, 2016 N.Y. LEXIS 3420 (Oct. 27, 2016). That decision requires reversal of the Appellate Division’s memorandum and order in this case. At issue in this appeal is the constitutionality of Section 61 of the 2012 amendment (L. 2012, ch. 56 § 1, part D, § 61) to the Medicaid Cap Statute (L. 2005, ch. 58, § 1, part C, § 1), which provided that as of April 1, 2012, the State would no longer reimburse counties for pre-2006 overburden claims, a type of Medicaid claim. After the 2012 amendment’s effective date, the County of Broome submitted overburden claims to the Department of Health totaling $1,170,022 (R. 267, ¶ 53). The Department of Health denied these claims based on the 2012 amendment (R. 267,¶ 54; 294-295). Page 2 The County of Broome then brought this combined article 78 proceeding and declaratory judgment action, claiming that the 2012 amendment was unconstitutional and requesting an order directing the Department of Health to pay these overburden claims (Record [R.] 42-55). Supreme Court (Tait, J.) annulled the Department of Health’s determination and directed it to pay Broome County’s overburden reimbursement claims at issue here (R. 14). In addition, Supreme Court directed the Department of Health to calculate and pay all additional overburden reimbursement owed the County for which the County has yet to submit any claims (and which claims would be barred by the 2012 amendment in any event) (R. 14). The Department of Health appealed. The Third Department, based on its opinion and order in County of St. Lawrence v. Shah, 124 A.D.3d 88 (3d Dep’t 2014), rev’d ___ N.Y.3d ___, 2016 N.Y. LEXIS 3420 (Oct. 27, 2016), affirmed Supreme Court’s judgment. On the day this Court reversed the Third Department’s County of St. Lawrence decision, it also granted the Department of Health leave to appeal in this case. 2016 N.Y. LEXIS 3444 (Oct. 27, 2016). This Court should reverse. In County of Chemung v. Shah, this Court held that Section 61 of the 2012 amendment “is constitutional, and that the State is under no further obligation to address outstanding county reimbursement claims filed after April 1, 2012, nor must the State initiate an administrative review of its records to identify and pay for any pre-2006 claims.” 2016 N.Y. LEXIS 3444 at *2. The issues in this appeal are identical in all relevant respects to the issues decided in County of Chemung. Accordingly, this Court should reverse the Appellate Division’s order, dismiss the petition in its entirety, and declare that section 61 of part D of Chapter 56 of the Laws of 2012 has not been shown to be unconstitutional. Page 3 ERIC T. SCHNEIDERMAN Attorney General BARBARA D. UNDERWOOD Solicitor General ANDREW D. BING Deputy Solicitor General By:__________s_____________ VICTOR PALADINO Assistant Solicitor General cc: Christopher E. Buckey, Esq. Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP One Commerce Plaza Albany, New York 12260