COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH’S DENIAL OF AN APPLICATION TO THE NYS MEDICAL INDEMNITY FUND FOR $12,000 TO PAY FOR A LIFT FOR A DISABLED CHILD WAS ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS (THIRD DEPT).
The Third Department determined the Commissioner of Health’s denial of petitioner’s application to the NYS Medical Indemnity Fund for about $12,000 for a lift which would allow a disabled child to use a pool was arbitrary and capricious:
… [T]he Commissioner determined that the pool lift did not qualify, reasoning that “[a] pool is not deemed an exterior modification of a residence because it is typically outside the confines of the [home].” This reasoning mischaracterizes the proposal. By definition, Emods [environmental home modifications] include exterior physical adaptations to a residence, including ramps. As demonstrated in the home evaluation, the backyard deck is attached to and directly accessed from the house through two back doors … . We readily recognize the attached deck as part of the residence, and the proposed modification here is to install two deck sockets that extend below the deck, i.e., the physical modification would be to the deck, not the pool. The pool lift is not directly attached to either the deck or the pool, but positioned in either socket depending on the intended use of either the pool or hot tub. As such, we find that the pool lift qualifies as an Emod and that the Commissioner’s contrary finding was arbitrary and capricious. Matter of Anson v Zucker, 2018 NY Slip Op 04063, Third Dept 6-7-18
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW (COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH’S DENIAL OF AN APPLICATION TO THE NYS MEDICAL INDEMNITY FUND FOR $12,000 TO PAY FOR A LIFT FOR A DISABLED CHILD WAS ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS (THIRD DEPT))/NYS MEDICAL INDEMNITY FUND (COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH’S DENIAL OF AN APPLICATION TO THE NYS MEDICAL INDEMNITY FUND FOR $12,000 TO PAY FOR A LIFT FOR A DISABLED CHILD WAS ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS (THIRD DEPT))/ENVIRONMENTAL HOME MODIFICATIONS (COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH’S DENIAL OF AN APPLICATION TO THE NYS MEDICAL INDEMNITY FUND FOR $12,000 TO PAY FOR A LIFT FOR A DISABLED CHILD WAS ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS (THIRD DEPT))/DISABLED PERSONS (ENVIRONMENTAL HOME MODIFICATIONS, COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH’S DENIAL OF AN APPLICATION TO THE NYS MEDICAL INDEMNITY FUND FOR $12,000 TO PAY FOR A LIFT FOR A DISABLED CHILD WAS ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS (THIRD DEPT))