Ball v. Rodgers

No. 04-16963 (9th Cir. July 17, 2007); Clearinghouse Number: 53009

Description

Arizona Medicaid Agency Must Provide Home Care Services Without Gaps to Qualified Elderly and Disabled Persons

Abstract

The district court ordered that defendants—state agency responsible for administering Arizona's Medicaid program and its director—must provide, without gaps in service, elderly and disabled persons with those services for which they qualify. In this certified class action, intervener-plaintiffs—seven individuals with disabilities—claimed that defendants failed to provide adequate "home care" services to recipients of home- and community-based services under Arizona's long-term care system. Such services include the less skilled services that assist disabled individuals in the activities of daily life such as dressing, bathing, and eating. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants' denial of home care services to beneficiaries and failure to give notice and appeal rights violated Sections 1396 et seq. of the Medicaid statute and regulations, state law, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, Section 1983, and their due process rights. The court held that beneficiaries must not be forced to choose between adequate health care and institutionalization and that defendants failed to provide the representative class members with the equal access, quality of care, and freedom of choice to which they are entitled. The court ordered defendants to develop adequate contingency plans for instances when a service cannot be provided, offer a sufficient pay rate to health care workers, monitor their program for service gaps and eliminate them in less than four hours, implement a grievance process, and inform beneficiaries about their rights.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Plaintiff represented by Sally Hart, Stephen Palevita, Arizona Center for Disability Law, 3131 N. Country Club, Suite 100, Tucson, AZ 85716 (520.327.9547); Anne Ronan, Tami Johnson, Arizona Center for Disability Law, 3839 N. Third St., Suite 209, Phoenix, AZ 25012 (602.274.6287); Therese Yanan, DNA Peoples Legal Services, Native American Protection & Advocacy Project, P.O. Box 3530, Tuba City, AZ 96045 (520.283.3208); Bruce Vignery, Sarah Lenz Lock, AARP Litigation, 601 E. St., NW, Washington, DC 20049 (201.434.2277).
Docket Date
2007-07-18 00:00:00+00:00

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