Extends the period given to certain applicants for public assistance benefits to request a fair hearing

• Democratic1

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Leroy Comrie says this is needed

Under existing law, when an applicant or recipient of public assistance, or a local social services district, has reason to believe that a phys- ical or mental impairment may prevent the applicant or recipient from fully engaging in work activities, the applicant or recipient has the opportunity to submit documentation of his or her condition and receive may be referred to an OTDA certified health care practitioner for further medical evaluation to verify the condition. Based on the documentation and the examination, a determination is made that the applicant or recipient is: (1) disabled and unable to work; (2) able to engage in work activities with stated limitations; or (3) neither disa- bled nor "work limited." Upon receiving notice of this determination of disability, the applicant or recipient has in days to request a fair hearing of the determination. This bill would amend § 332-b(6) of the Social Services Law to extend the time allowed to request a fair hearing to 60 days, in order to make this time period consistent with the time allowed for requesting other types of fair hearings under the Social Services Law. Disabled public assistance recipients are frequently assigned to work activities that are either impossible to perform given their medical condition or hazardous to their health. In fact, one disabled recipient suffered a fatal heart attack while assigned to perform sanitation duties that were incompatible with her documented medical history. Although currently given the opportunity to request a fair hearing to contest a work assignment, disabled applicants and recipients of public assistance are rarely able to meet the 10 day deadline to request such hearing because they are not informed of the specific duties that will be required at the work assignment until the 10 day period has expired. Therefore, once they recognize that their work assignment will exceed their capabilities or pose a threat to their health, it is too late to challenge it. Under existing law, applicants and recipients seeking to appeal almost any other decision by a local social services district have 6o days to request a fair hearing. Applicants and recipients of food stamps have go days to request a hearing with regard to their food stamp benefits. It is unreasonable to substantially reduce the time allotted to the most vulnerable public assistance recipients - the disabled - to request a fair hearing, particularly when their health and safety may be in jeopardy.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.