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 Education and Defense Fund and Disability Rights California.

When blind individuals requested accessible versions of Medi-Cal notices, DHCS and its county agents either failed to provide accessible versions or failed 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 have caused 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.

Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit seeking equal access to Medi-Cal for themselves and other blind consumers. Their ultimate goal was 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.

In October 2025, District Court Judge Maxine M. Chesney granted final approval to the class action settlement. The settlement requires significant changes to ensure the DCHS is able to provide effective communication to blind individuals.

This includes ensuring that blind people can say they want to receive written materials in alternative formats for any method by which they apply for Medi-Cal, start the Medi-Cal eligibility process, respond to the Medi-Cal redetermination process, or review or correct application and eligibility information. As part of the Agreement DCHS will have an online form that blind individuals can use to tell DHCS that they need to receive written materials in alternative formats; provide all written materials that pertain to a blind individual’s Medi-Cal benefits or application in the format requested by the individual, including standard alternative formats like large print, Braille, and audio and electronic formats; and inform individuals that they can also request other, non-standard alternative formats.

The named counties—Contra Costa, San Diego, and Alameda—must cooperate with DCHS’s plan, train relevant employees and ensure a designated employee to answer questions regarding effective communication with blind people.