Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 15, 1991 TAG: 9104150118
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
For the past year, the residents have been beneficiaries of a special program set up after a federal court ruling removed them from Medicaid rolls. State officials said budget constraints have forced the end of the program.
State health officials say they will do their best to minimize the impact of the program's demise.
"To have them kicked out of the nursing homes will be not only traumatic [but] downright immoral," said Susan Williams, executive director of the League of Older Americans, an agency for senior citizens in Roanoke.
The special program paying for their care was established last spring in the wake of a ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court ruled in a class-action lawsuit against the state Department of Medical Assistance Services. In the lawsuit, plaintiffs charged Virginia's Medicaid eligibility rules were too strict and violated federal law.
Initially, the plaintiffs had prevailed in the case. U.S. District Judge Harry Michael ruled in October 1989 that Virginia had to grant Medicaid status to anyone who qualified for Supplemental Security Income, a federal welfare program.
The state appealed the decision. In September, the 4th Circuit reversed Michael's ruling, allowing the state to use its more restrictive Medicaid eligibility rules.
The problem: In the three months between Michael's ruling and the 4th Circuit's stay, about 340 people became eligible for Medicaid under the new rules and began receiving public assistance for their health care.
About 90 members of this group went into nursing homes.
After the 4th Circuit's ruling, the state took all 340 back off Medicaid. For the 90 who entered nursing homes, however, the government created a special program to pay for their care in full.
The program was "a good faith effort to take care of the most frail and vulnerable," Deborah Oswalt, deputy secretary of Health and Human Resources, said at the time.
Since then, the program has cost the state about $1 million, Oswalt said. Now the state is looking to trim costs anywhere it can because of a huge revenue shortfall.
by CNB