Judge Bars Halt of Medi-Cal for Some Disabled

Two days before the state was scheduled to institute a plan to cut off Medi-Cal benefits to disabled Californians who have been denied similar federal aid, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge temporarily halted the program.

The order Friday by Judge Ricardo A. Torres affects an estimated 2,500 disabled people who could have been denied Medi-Cal aid in the next year under the plan which was to go into effect Sunday, said attorneys with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, who sued the state over the issue on behalf of the Ventura-based Disabled Rights Union.

Torres scheduled a full hearing on the cutoff for March 20.

Under current regulations, disabled people can apply for health assistance under the state’s Medi-Cal program and benefits under the federal Supplemental Security Income program.

But the state, at the prompting of the federal government, had proposed to discontinue Medi-Cal benefits for disabled people who were found ineligible for SSI.