Cases | C.P. v. Utah Office of Crime Victims¿ Reparations (Utah Ct. App. 1998) | 2018
After C.P.’s daughter was sexually abused by her uncle, C.P. applied for reparation funds from the Utah Office of Crime Victims’ Reparations (the Office) and was granted an award for mental health counseling. C.P.’s daughter was then admitted to a counseling program that was a non-Medicaid provider. The Office notified the counseling program that it would not reimburse the program for the victim’s treatment because she was eligible for Medicaid at the time. The Office then denied payment for the victim’s stay at the counseling program because potential Medicaid coverage was considered an available collateral source under the Crime Victims’ Act. C.P. appealed this decision, arguing, among other things, that the language of the Act does not allow the Office to withhold payment for her daughter’s counseling by treating her potential eligibility for Medicaid as a collateral source. The court of appeals agreed, holding that the “plain language states that a victim shall not be denied reparations because of potential income but only when that income ‘has been recouped from other persons, including collateral sources,’” and therefore the potential availability of Medicaid did not bar C.P.’s claim. The ruling was reversed and the case remanded for the entry of the appropriate award of reparations to C.P.