State Attorney General Mark Bennett and the law firm of Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing made the joint announcement of the settlement of lawsuits and appeals that arose from a series of claims made by residents who were denied medical and dental benefits under the state's QUEST program.

Attorney Shelby Anne Floyd, lead attorney for those who sued, praised Gov. Linda Lingle for getting personally involved in reaching a fair settlement. "We are pleased that the state has acknowledged its responsibility for not giving the disabled the same benefits it gave to other Hawai'i residents," she said.

In 1994, the state obtained a waiver from federal Medicaid regulations, creating its own managed-care program for low-income families. But when the state began the QUEST program, it left out about 32,000 old, blind and disabled clients who had been in the Medicaid program.

In November 1995, Floyd filed a federal class-action suit against the state on behalf of Shea Burns-Vidak, a disabled Big Island minor, and George Cohn, a blind adult on O'ahu.

Bennett praised the team of deputy attorneys general who have worked on the cases for years. "This settlement is, I believe, in the best interests of both the state of Hawai'i and the plaintiffs."

The Legislature will be be asked to fund the settlement as part of a bill now before lawmakers.