STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

FRANKLIN W. HUDSON, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 83-233L

)

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND )

REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

This matter came on for hearing in Pensacola, Florida, before the Division of Administrative Hearings by its duly designated Hearing Officer, Robert T. Benton, II, on February 16, 1983.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Appeared on his own behalf For Respondent: Maureen McGill, Esquire

Department of Health and

Rehabilitative Services

160 Governmental Center Pensacola, Florida 32522

The question in this case is whether Mr. Hudson's household is eligible for benefits under the Low Income Energy Assistance Program administered by respondent pursuant to Emergency Rule 10C-ER-83-1 and Rule 10E-29.01, et seq., Florida Administrative Code.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Mr. Hudson and his wife are long time residents of Pensacola. They live alone together in a house heated with natural gas. They still have not paid last month's gas bill in the amount of $74. Their combined gross monthly income amounts to $606, of which $147 is a social security payment and $3 is interest on savings. The remainder is "retirement checks", two pension payments attributable to the Hudsons' employment when they were younger. Neither is employed now.

   
   

2. Insurance premiums and perhaps other items are deducted monthly, and these deductions aggregate almost one hundred dollars.

   
   

3. Mr. Hudson has recently learned that he has cancer of the throat. He has undergone radiation therapy and incurred considerable medical expenses. He paid Baptist Hospital $260 just before last Christmas and spent $140 on drugs shortly after Christmas.

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

4. Mr. and Mrs. Hudson would be eligible for home energy assistance in a single payment, if their household income were not so high. The parties stipulated that the Hudson household gross monthly income is $606. Although "[t]wenty percent of gross earned income," Rule 10C-29.09(2)(d), Florida Administrative Code, is excluded from consideration, there is no corresponding exclusion for unearned income, regardless of any deductions for insurance premiums or the like. Applying the maxim inclusio unius, exclusio alterius, medical expenses cannot be deducted from household income. Rule 10C-29.09(2), Florida Administrative Code.

   
   

5. For a household with two persons like the Hudsons' the maximum income consistent with eligibility for benefits under the Low Income Energy Assistance Program may be as high as $518.00, as stated by respondent's representatives at the hearing, or as low as $474. See Rule 10C-29.13(5), Florida Administrative Code. Since the Hudsons' income exceeds these amounts significantly, they are ineligible for benefits at this time.

RECOMMENDATION

Upon consideration of the foregoing, it is RECOMMENDED:

That respondent deny petitioner's application for benefits under the Low Income Energy Assistance Program.

DONE AND ENTERED this 23rd day of February, 1983, in Tallahassee, Florida.

ROBERT T. BENTON II

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building

2009 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32301

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 23rd day of February, 1983.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Franklin William Hudson 1607 E. Cervantes Street Pensacola, Florida 32501

Maureen McGill, Esquire Department of Health and

Rehabilitative Services

160 Governmental Center Pensacola, Florida 32522

David Pingree, Secretary Department of Health and

Rehabilitative Services 1323 Winewood Boulevard

Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Alicia Jacobs General Counsel

Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services

1323 Winewood Boulevard

Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Susan B. Kirkland, Esquire Department of Health and

Rehabilitative Services 1323 Winewood Boulevard

Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Docket for Case No: 83-000233

Orders for Case No: 83-000233