Families sue to protect benefits for kids with disabilities
June 29th, 2009From the Seattle Times:
The families of three children with Down syndrome have filed a suit in federal court to stop the state of Washington from cutting back on their Medicaid-funded in-home care. The families say budget problems cannot be used to justify cutting back on services the children are legally entitled to receive.
According to [the Department of Social and Health Services], the cuts would affect approximately 3,100 disabled children and save the state about $3 million over two years.
According to the lawsuit, … the plaintiffs have disabilities so severe they would be eligible for placement in state institutions if they were not cared for at home. The suit says the children’s parents and guardians already save the state money by assuming responsibility for their care.
… Each child currently receives between 72 and 141 hours of in-home assistance each month.
Our RSS Feed
June 30th, 2009 at 8:14 am
Thanks for the heads-up about the Kentucky investigation, Summer! Readers can see a post about it here.
June 29th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Friday’s filing in Washington brings to six states now with pending lawsuits alleging Olmstead violations due to cuts to medicaid home services.
Also on Friday, the Department of Human Services Office for Civil Rights agreed to investigate Kentucky for civil rights violations stemming from cuts in medicaid home and community based services. This has a tremendous potential for all of us across the country who have seen our children’s services cut with no regard to individual need.
I track children’s medicaid, waiver and EPSDT rights on my blog, if you’re interested in links to the sources for my information.