NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the
internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. A-2568-19
G.R.,
Petitioner-Appellant,
v
DIVISION OF MEDICAL
ASSISTANCE AND HEALTH
SERVICES,
Respondent-Respondent.
Submitted May 10, 2021 – Decided June 23, 2021
Before Judges Currier and Gooden Brown.
On appeal from the New Jersey Department of Human
Services, Division of Medical Assistance and Health
Services.
G. R., appellant pro se.
Gurbir S. Grewal, Attorney General, attorney for
respondent (Melissa H. Raksa, Assistant Attorney
General, of counsel; Mark D. McNally, Deputy
Attorney General, on the brief).
PER CURIAM
Appellant is a recipient of Medicaid benefits. Although he became
employed shortly after he was deemed eligible for benefits, he did not report his
income to Medicaid.
On October 8, 2019, the Union County Division of Social Services
advised appellant by letter that he owed $9243.68 to the State of New Jersey,
Department of Human Services, Division of Medical Assistance and Health
Services (Division) for failing to report earned income. The letter informed
appellant he had the right to request a fair hearing, and that the request must be
made within twenty days of receiving the letter. The letter included a request
form to be completed and returned by appellant as well as a phone number to
contact if assistance was needed.
The Division received the fair hearing request form from appellant on
December 31, 2019. The request form was signed December 26 and the mailing
envelope was dated December 27, 2019. On January 15, 2020, the Division
denied the hearing request as out of time.
On appeal, appellant contends he was not able to meet the twenty-day
deadline because he was working full-time and caring for his mother.
Our standard of review that applies in an appeal from a state agency
decision is well established. "Judicial review of an agency's final decision is
A-2568-19
2
generally limited to a determination of whether the decision is arbitrary,
capricious, or unreasonable or lacks fair support in the record." Caminiti v. Bd.
of Trs., Police & Firemen's Ret. Sys., 431 N.J. Super. 1, 14 (App. Div. 2013)
(citing Hemsey v. Bd. of Trs., Police & Firemen's Ret. Sys., 198 N.J. 215, 223-
24 (2009)). In reviewing an administrative decision, we ordinarily recognize
the agency's expertise in its particular field. Ibid.
The issue presented for our consideration is whether the Division
reasonably denied appellant's December 31, 2019 fair hearing request as
untimely.
Under N.J.A.C. 10:49-10.3(b)(3), "[c]laimants shall have [twenty] days
from the date of notice . . . in which to request a hearing . . . ." In the Division's
letter advising appellant he owed monies for failing to comply with Medicaid
regulations, he was also advised of the twenty-day timeframe within which to
request a hearing. He did not request a hearing until eighty-four days later.
Although sympathetic to appellant's proffered reasons for the delay, we
note that the twenty-day deadline was set forth in the October 8 letter and the
fair hearing request form was provided. In addition, appellant's mother was
admitted into a nursing home on November 29, 2019. Yet, he did not request a
A-2568-19
3
hearing for another thirty-two days, rendering his request still beyond the
hearing request deadline.
Appellant has not demonstrated a clear showing to disturb the Division's
determination.
Affirmed.
A-2568-19
4