Home Health & Hospice Week

Lawsuits fight to preserve access to Medicaid home care. 

Medicaid home care programs are suffering as states continue to cut funding, but some states are struggling to keep seniors' long-term care options open.

More than 100 seniors, people with disabilities and home care providers jammed a small meeting room Oct. 7 to protest a proposed $17 million cut from Michigan's Adult Home Help program, reports The Detroit News. The Medicaid program furnishes non-skilled assistance to about 50,000 beneficiaries to keep them in their homes.

Protestors called the cuts "evil" and said they would cost the state more money in the long run as beneficiaries were institutionalized. Michigan Department of Community Health spokesperson T.J. Bulholz said if the cuts do not come out of the home health program, "they'll have to come from somewhere else. We have to live within our means," reports the News.

In Kentucky, beneficiaries have gone to federal court to reverse Medicaid cuts to home care and other long-term care programs. Kentucky instituted new rules in April that limit Medicaid services due to budget shortfalls, reports the Associated Press.

One of the 10 plaintiffs in the suit is a 70-year-old woman disabled by polio as an infant, unable to walk and suffering from rheumatoid arthritis whose home care services were terminated. Gov. Paul Patton (D) has refused to withdraw the new rules, saying the legislature failed to fully fund Medicaid.

On Oct. 6, a federal judge gave approval to a court settlement that should furnish Tennessee Medicaid beneficiaries with more home care options, reports the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The settlement in a class-action lawsuit should give TennCare enrollee's more home care options, but shouldn't cost the state more money, said state officials and the beneficiary's legal representative, the Tennessee Justice Center.

The settlement gives Tennessee up to five years to fashion a home- and community-based alternative to nursing homes, starting with pilot projects, the paper says. The settlement requires the state to ensure TennCare's managed care organizations pay for home care for a variety of services that weren't previously covered.

In Illinois, the state wrapped up a series of 30 discussion forums about the state's long-term care program Oct. 7, AP reports. State legislators will use the conclusions - including the decision to encourage home care whenever possible - in drafting legislation to dramatically revamp the system.

The new legislation is expected next spring.