The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare recently announced a decision to cut Medicaid funding to patients with disabilities by up to 50 percent. In response, several providers and patients have taken the rule to court, stating that it was not passed according to Idaho regulations.
The Idaho Statesmen elaborates on the details:
The lawsuit alleges the department did not follow the proper procedure for setting its new Medicaid reimbursement rates.
The correct procedure, according to the Idaho Administrative Procedure Act, would have involved publishing the new rule publicly and then asking for input from stakeholders, Piotrowski said. It also would require final approval from the Idaho Legislature. Instead, the lawsuit states the department sought “to create a rule and disguise it as an information release.”
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The complaint said many of the providers have already begun to give notice to some patients that they won’t be able to provide services after the lower rates are put in place.
“Many participants to whom (these agencies) provide services would otherwise be institutionalized in state hospitals, intermediate care facilities, or nursing homes,” the suit said. “In fact, it is for this specific purpose that the Medicaid waiver program was created, so that such individuals could reside in the community rather than being ‘warehoused’ in institutions.”
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare says it only knows of two patients that have had to change providers due to the new rule.
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