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Katy DeBriere, Legal Director

Education
Significant Cases
Presentations & Publications
Honors & Awards
Board Membership & Bar Admissions
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Katy is one the state's leading experts in Medicaid law. Prior to becoming Legal Director, Katy was the managing attorney for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership where she secured significant and sustained funding for the partnership for the first time in its 12-year history. Katy also played a lead role in developing a statewide medical-legal partnership network and assisted hundreds of clients with access to Medicaid eligibility and services through individual administrative advocacy. 
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Katy began her legal career in 2008 as an Equal Justice Works fellow. The fellowship resulted in several district courts of appeal wins and a successful federal constitutional challenge to Florida’s statutory scheme for the involuntary commitment of individuals with developmental disabilities. The latter case resulted in the amendment of Florida state law to guarantee an annual review of committed individuals. 

More recently, Katy was responsible for the state's remedial actions to ensure continuous Medicaid enrollment for young people exiting foster care as well as individuals formerly receiving Medicaid through state adoption assistance agreements and Supplemental Security Income. Katy also has experiencing litigating individual and systemic matters related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

Her legal work has been awarded First and Second Runner-Up places for the Florida Bar Foundation's Goldstein-Van Nortwick Award for Excellence in 2014, 2018, and 2020. 

When not engaged in legal services work, Katy proudly serves on the Board of Directors for Disability Rights Florida, the designated Protection & Advocacy system for individuals with disabilities living in Florida. She is also a member of the National Health Law Program’s Board of Ambassadors. 

Katy earned a B.S. from Florida State University (with a minor in Women’s Studies) and received her J.D. from the University of Florida, Levin College of Law with Honors. 

She lives in Jacksonville, Florida with her partner, Michael, her daughter, Ruth Anne, and her three cats:  Toonces, Stevens, and Hazelnut.
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Education


University of Florida, Fredric G. Levin College of Law;  Juris Doctor Cum Laude, 2008; Honors in Legal Research & Writing

Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, Bachelor of Science Cum Laude
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Significant Cases


​Harrell, et al. v. Poppell, 3:19-cv-00912 (M.D. Fla. 2019)

A.C. v. Ag’y for Health Care Admin., 322 So.3d 1182 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019)

Christopher MO v. Dept. of Children & Families, 4:16-cv-780 (N.D. Fla. 2016)
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J.R. v. Hansen, 803 F.3d 1315 (11th Cir. 2015)

T.S. v. Agency for Persons with Disabilities, 87 So.3d 1250 (1st DCA 2012)
 
Agency for Persons with Disabilities v. Dallas, 38 So.3d 831 (1st DCA 2010)
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Select Presentations and Publications


​National Conference on Special Needs Planning and Special Needs Trusts, Managed Care and LTCSS: Managing Costs, Care, Both or Neither??, panel discussion (October 2021). 

Florida Policy Institute, Understanding Florida’s Reimposition of SNAP Work Requirements: What You Need to Know, panel presentation (August 2021).

Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, Partnership for Effective Programs for Students with Autism, Public Benefits for Youth in Transition (June 2021).

Management Innovation Excellence for Legal Aid, Statewide Poverty Health Law Programs: Necessary to a Legal Aid Delivery System, co-authored with Miriam Harmatz (Spring 2021).

Issues in Medicaid Billings & Coordinating Consumer and Health Law Advocacy, Florida Consumer Law Training (June 2019), co-presented with Miriam Harmatz. 

Rolling Back Retroactive Medicaid Eligibility (RME), Florida Health Law Section Newsletter (Summer 2018).

UFHealth Primary Care Innovations Conference, Addressing Social Determinants in Youth and Young Adults with Special Health Care Needs through Medical Legal Partnership and Collaboration, presented with Jacksonville Health and Transition Services (April 2018).

Hot Topics in Managed Care, National Health Law Program Conference, panel discussion (2017).

Social Determinants of Health Webinar Series: Advocacy in Florida’s Medicaid Managed Care Program, presented for Florida’s Maternal, Infant & Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, Learning Management System (November 30, 2017)

Annual Health Care Transition Research Consortium, Research Symposium, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bridging the Gaps in Healthcare Transition Through Collaboration with a Medical-Legal Partnership (October 2016). 

Florida Medicaid Overview, co-presented webinar for Health Law Section of Florida Bar, Sept. 2017

Co-authored criminal defense attorney handbook, and presented to stakeholders throughout the state of Florida as a CLE course.
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Honors and Awards


​2018      Florida Bar Foundation: Stephen M. Goldstein Award, First Runner Up (using a medical-legal partnership and a multi-prong advocacy approach to attain relief for thousands by reforming Florida’s flawed Medicaid “ex parte review” process)

​2016      Florida Bar Foundation: Stephen M. Goldstein Award, Second Runner Up (safeguarding nutrition security for Floridians with disabilities)

2014      Florida Bar Foundation: Stephen M. Goldstein Award, First Runner up (establishment of due process rights for people with developmental disabilities)
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Board Membership and Bar Admissions


Board Membership:  Disability Rights Florida, Sept. 2016 - present

                                              UF College of Law, Center on Children & Families, Advisory Board Member ​

Bar Member:  Florida

Court Admissions:  United States District Courts for the Northern & Middle Districts of Florida; Eleventh Circuit, United States Court of Appeals

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The Florida Health Justice Project, a nonprofit organization, recognizes that access to quality and affordable health care is a human right and engages in comprehensive advocacy to expand healthcare access and promote health equity for vulnerable Floridians.
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  • Our Work
    • 2023 End of Continuous Medicaid
    • ACA, Medicaid and Medicare Defense
    • Care for Uninsured
    • Connecting Kids to Coverage
    • COVID-19 >
      • COVID-19 Resources & Publications
      • COVID-19 Dashboard
    • Elder Health
    • Immigrant Health
    • LGBTQ+ Health
    • Litigation
    • Maternal Health
    • Medicaid Expansion
    • Resources >
      • Recursos en Español
  • STORIES Project
  • Publications
  • About
    • Our Approach
    • Team
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  • Contact
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