Effie Day

Gregg Lombardi - Executive Director

Effie Day

39 years and 364 days ago, a young lawyer, fresh out of law school, started as a $4 per hour attorney for Legal Aid of Western Missouri.  She was smart, fiery and full of passion about the cause.



Tomorrow marks Effie Day’s 40^th year with Legal Aid.  In those years, Effie has litigated thousands of cases protecting the rights of low-income people to access healthcare through Missouri’s Medicaid program.  As prevailing counsel in numerous appellate cases, she has, for all practical purposes, written Missouri’s Medicaid law.  As a result of her successful appeals, Missourians now have the right to challenge the denial of Medicaid and to be informed why their claim was denied (Grant v. Toan).  The state can no longer use hearsay, out-of-court statements of non-examining physicians to support a denial of benefits (Bell v. Missouri State Division of Family Services) and Missourians with disabilities can qualify for Medicaid on the basis of multiple maladies (Crudup v. Missouri State Division of Family Services).



Although she has proven herself to be a talented appellate advocate, Effie’s passion is in helping individual clients obtain the benefits they deserve under the law.  She patiently and tirelessly assists her clients, often working well into the night and on weekends.  In the last twenty years alone, Ms. Day has provided representation for over 4,200 clients, winning well over 90% of the Medicaid appeals cases that she handles.

For the last seven years, Effie has also led Legal Aid’s Medicaid Appeals Project, at Truman Medical Center.  The staff at Truman refer patients to Legal Aid who have been denied Medicaid benefits and who the staff at Truman believe should receive those benefits.  Legal Aid staff then appeal these decisions.  The project has led to over 1,400 Truman patients, who are permanently and totally disabled, receiving Medicaid benefits after having had those benefits improperly denied.  The project has also generated well over $10 million in revenues for Truman for services, which the hospital would otherwise have had to write off.

Effie Day has brought justice to thousands of people throughout the state of Missouri.  Many of her clients had never had any one fight for their rights before Effie took their case.  By steadfastly protecting her clients’ most fundamental rights, Effie has given them faith that the justice system in Missouri can work for them.  She has taken away pain and given access to basic care to them and, in doing so, has made the state a better place to live for all of us. 

For Effie, tomorrow will be like any other day here.  She’ll come to work and devote herself completely to her clients’ cause.  If you get the chance, I hope that you will interrupt Effie’s work for a moment tomorrow and thank and congratulate her for the tremendous job that she continues to do for her clients.