Hinkle v. Baass
In October 2018, DRA and a coalition of blind advocates filed a class action lawsuit in Federal Court against the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and its county agents for failing to provide Medi-Cal notices in accessible formats, such as Braille. The plaintiffs are the California Council of the Blind and three individuals; co-counsel is the Disability Rights and Education Fund and Disability Rights California. Read the complaint below.
When blind individuals request accessible versions of Medi-Cal notices, DHCS and its county agents either fail to provide accessible versions or fail to do so in a timely manner. For example, plaintiff Lena Hinkle waited more than eight months to receive a Braille version of a Medi-Cal notice containing time-sensitive information. This discrimination may cause blind Medi-Cal consumers to lose their benefits.
Providing information to blind individuals in alternative formats such as Braille or large print is required by federal and California anti-discrimination laws.
To solve the problem, DHCS and the counties need to (1) identify people who need communication in Braille or other accessible formats, and (2) respond appropriately to requests for accessible formats.
Plaintiffs seek equal access to Medi-Cal for themselves and other blind consumers. Their ultimate goal is to ensure DHCS institutes a comprehensive remedial plan to properly identify and accommodate blind Medi-Cal consumers.
In October 2024, DRA reached a settlement agreement with The California Department of Health Care Services, Contra Costa county, San Diego county, and Alameda county. Under the settlement, DHCS has agreed to a plan for how blind and visually impaired people who receive or are eligible for Medi-Cal services can get their Medi-Cal information in different ways than standard size print. This agreement was preliminarily approved in December 2024, and a federal court will review this agreement.
The Court has scheduled a hearing for June 27, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. to determine if the proposed Settlement Agreement is fair and reasonable and should receive final approval. The hearing will be held in Courtroom 7 on the 19th floor of the federal courthouse in San Francisco, CA, located at 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102. Learn more information about the hearing on the Hinkle v. Baass class notice page.