Table 3.

Descriptions and Roles of Actors in Frew and Hawkins Lawsuits

Actor	Description	Role
Beneficiaries	Medicaid-enrolled children and families in Texas and New Hampshire, referred to as plaintiffs or the class.	Initiated lawsuits, provided affidavits, depositions, and testimony on their experiences navigating Medicaid services.
Attorneys		Deposed witnesses, prepared information for review by opposing counsel, requested and collected research evidence, negotiated the consent decrees, and prioritized remedies.
Plaintiff Attorneys	Legal aid organizations in Texas and New Hampshire who represented the plaintiffs.
Defense Attorneys	Texas and New Hampshire Attorney General Offices or the state's Legal Counsel in the HHS.
Evidence Purveyors		Supplied attorneys with research evidence on state dental Medicaid programs by sharing dental utilization rates, surveying practitioners, providing recommendations on dental screening schedules, or using expertise in dental research.
State Health Administrators	State health administrators including state Medicaid Directors and dental Medicaid Directors.
Practitioner Witnesses	Dentists and state dental association representatives.
Expert Witnesses	Local academic researchers affiliated with public health programs and dental schools.
Expert Consultants	Nationally recognized academic and legal health researchers.
Judges	Federal judges who arbitrated the class action lawsuits in the Eastern District of Texas and New Hampshire District Courts.	Listened to the evidence presented in support of the consent decree, evaluated the remedies, arbitrated on the appropriateness and fairness of the consent decree, enforced the consent decree, and could hold the state in contempt if it failed to carry out terms of the consent decree.
Implementers		Implemented the consent decree remedies to broaden access for and treat Medicaid-enrolled children.
State HHS Commissioner	The Commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission or New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, referred to as the defendant.
Practitioners	Dentists who would ultimately be responsible for providing care to children in Medicaid.