Arkansas Department of Human Services v. Schroder , 353 Ark. 885 ( 2003 )

Tom Glaze, Justice,

dissenting. Returning this case to the Administrative Law Judge to complete an eligibility worksheet is a waste of time for everyone, including Mrs. Betty Schroder. As the majority states, DHS’s position is that the $90,000 annuity should be considered a countable asset when determining Mrs. Schroder’s eligibility for Medicaid nursing home benefits. In the proceeding before the ALJ, DHS also submitted that, because of other financial resources, she would still be ineligible even without counting the $90,000 annuity.

When this case was tried before the ALJ and the circuit court, both parties agreed that the sole issue was whether DHS properly denied benefits to Mrs. Schroder based upon the $90,000 annuity. In fact, the indisputable fact is that, if the annuity in issue is a countable asset, as the ALJ determined, Mrs. Schroder must be found ineligible for Medicaid benefits. If the circuit court was correct in deciding the annuity is not countable, then Mrs. Schroder is eligible for benefits. Either way, this case would be concluded on the facts and law presented and argued by the parties. If there were other arguments to be made when this matter was tried, then the parties should have raised, argued, and preserved those points at trial so they could be considered on appeal.

The majority court’s suggestion that any ruling on the $90,000 annuity issue would be advisory is plainly wrong. The only point raised and argued below and argued on appeal has been the annuity asset issue. This court should decide that issue and lay this matter to rest. Doing otherwise only delays the parties from obtaining a final decision to which they are entitled. It is not this court’s responsibility to tell parties how they should try their lawsuit. We should decide this case now. For the reasons above, I dissent.

Hannah, J., joins this dissent.