Background on lawsuit in Florida concerning nursing home transition efforts

Information from the Florida Assoc. of Centers for Independent Living

Contact: Martina Schmid 850-575-6004, 528-1084, facil.martina@earthlink.net

Background

In January of 2008 civil rights attorney Stephen Gold, the Southern Legal Counsel and the AARP Foundation filed a class action suit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief on behalf of Florida Medicaid eligible adults who were living in nursing homes. The suit, William Long, et al., Plaintiffs, vs Holly Benson, et al., Defendants, claimed the state was unnecessarily institutionalizing people by forcing them to use their Medicaid funds in a nursing home, rather than allowing them to purchase community based services.  In 1999 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Olmstead v. L.C that it was a form of discrimination, segregation, to put people with disabilities into institutions if they could live, with some supports in a less restricted setting, like their own home.

·         In 2009 the lawsuit was placed in abeyance to allow Florida to implement the “Florida Nursing Home Transition Plan. ”  The plan included the legislature making available funds for more Medicaid waivers for persons with disabilities through proviso language under the nursing home line item in the Florida budget.

·         The state agencies named in the lawsuit, the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Health and the Department of Elder Affairs, and the Florida Centers for Independent Living have collaborated to implement the nursing home transition program.

·         In 2010 the plaintiff’s attorneys determined that the state had not met its obligations in terms of not transferring enough people out of nursing homes and the lawsuit went to trial. The outcome of the trial is pending the judge’s ruling.

·         Long before the lawsuit, Florida state agencies have been interested in transitioning people out of nursing homes, asking the Center for Medicaid Services for additional waivers, applying for Money Follows the Person grants, and facilitating nursing home transition through other programs.

·         The state supports moving people from institutions because it is the appropriate course of action for many, many people, and in areas where nursing home occupancy rates are high it saves money. On average it costs $60,000 to live in a nursing home and $30,000 to live in the community. Also, moving people who can live in the community to the community, makes nursing home beds available for people who need them.