Florida Medicaid recipients want to choose where to live
October 6th, 2008 by Jennifer Walker-Journey
Nearly 8,500 Florida Medicaid recipients have filed a federal lawsuit seeking class action status for forcing them to live in nursing homes instead of where they choose, according to the Associated Press/Miami Herald. The lawsuit names the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s office.
Medicaid, which is the state-federal body that provides health coverage and nursing home care to the poor, pays nursing homes millions each year for treating patients who qualify for Medicaid. Advocates for the elderly contend that nursing homes have successfully lobbied politicians to make qualifying for community care more difficult, thus forcing these older or disabled individuals to move into nursing homes when they are independent enough to live at home, with relatives or in assisted living.
Individuals who qualify for Medicare and who become sick or disabled have no trouble qualifying for nursing homes, but are finding it far more difficult to receive Medicaid-supported services, the report states.
Advocates cite a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court case known as the Olmstead decision, in which the court ruled that the unjustified placement of individuals in institutions such as nursing homes amounted to discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The decision stated that states must provide community care if it can be accommodated and would be appropriate.
“There’s a lot of concern that the nursing home industry is very powerful in many states and has made sure that a lot of Medicaid dollars go to institutional care as opposed to home and community-based care,” says an attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy.