Gladowski v. Department of Family and Children Servs.

In this discretionary appeal, Sylvia Gladowski appeals a decision by the Fulton County Superior Court affirming a final administrative decision by the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health, which denied her certain Medicaid benefits. Gladowski contends that the superior court erred in ruling that her petition for judicial review was not timely filed pursuant to OCGA § 49-4-153 c. We disagree and affirm. In an appeal from a superior court’s review of a final agency decision, “our function is to determine whether the superior court has in its own final ruling committed an error of law.” Punctuation omitted. North Atlanta Scan Assoc. v. Dept. of Community Health .1

The undisputed record shows that in April 2004, Gladowski qualified for Medicaid assistance to pay for nursing home care, but the Department of Community Health delayed her benefits until September 2006 on the ground that Gladowski improperly transferred assets to qualify for Medicaid coverage. Gladowski appealed the decision to an administrative law judge ALJ, who held a hearing and issued an “initial decision” affirming the Department’s action. After her motion for reconsideration was denied, the Department issued a “final administrative decision,” dated December 13, 2004, adopting the ALJ’s decision. That decision was mailed to Gladowski on December 14, 2004.