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State must stick to settlement promising in-home care
for the elderly The Associated Press, Sarasota Herald-Tribune September 4, 2003 NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The state
cannot modify a settlement agreement that guarantees in-home personal care
services to elderly residents who otherwise would be forced to live in
nursing homes, a federal judge ruled.
"We have people who
desperately need these services," Advocacy Center attorney Nell Hahn
told U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt during the hearing. "This is
a real service that we bargained for." The state Department of Health
and Hospitals requested $38 million to implement the Medicaid program, but
the Legislature balked at approving it as a required state Medicaid
service open to all who qualify. Lawmakers said they feared an uncapped
personal-care program would put financial strains on the state budget. The program was slated to begin
July 1, but the Legislature voted to delay that start by three months and
instead provided $28 million to expand a variety of home- and
community-based services. It also directed DHH to go back
to federal court to see if it could scale back the program, capping the
number of people who could get services. DHH attorney Rick Henley told
Engelhardt the new plan would serve more people and offer more options for
help than the personal-care attendant program, and he asked the judge to
"give deference to the preferences of the Legislature." "The state of Louisiana
speaks through its legislators, and the legislators have spoken,"
Henley said. Hahn countered that
nursing-home interests, who claim the costs of a full-blown personal-care
attendant program would result in underfunding of nursing homes, convinced
the Legislature to seek a modification of the program. "The Legislature has not
refused to fund this program," she said. "We are not dealing
here with a legislative refusal. We're dealing with a request for
modification. This court is not free to modify." The judge agreed with Hahn, but
denied the plaintiffs' request that he order the state to comply with the
personal-care attendant option. "We suggest they're
dragging their feet," Hahn argued. "We want this done quickly
and expeditiously." But the judge said the state
defendants are not in breach of the settlement agreement. DHH Secretary David Hood said
he was disappointed, but not surprised, by the court's decision. "We're going to comply
with the court order, and we're also going to review this with the
Legislature at the first opportunity," Hood said. The health department estimates
that 1,700 people who are at "imminent risk" of being placed in
a nursing home would be eligible for the program, which could begin as
early as Oct. 1. That doesn't include current nursing-home residents who
might opt for home care if it's available. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
