A federal judge in Camden, N.J., has denied a fee application in a Medicaid dispute, finding that a preliminary injunction barring inclusion of the plaintiff’s husband’s annuity in her assets did not make her a prevailing party.

The court never issued a final ruling on whether the annuity should be included in a calculation of the plaintiff’s assets for Medicaid eligibility. The plaintiff claimed she was entitled to fees because the injunction materially altered the legal relationship of the parties. But even if the court agreed with her on that point, the plaintiff failed to earn prevailing party status because she never obtained a judgment on the merits of her claim, U.S. District Judge Renee Bumb of the District of New Jersey ruled Jan. 23 in Flamini v. Velez.

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