Home care still waiting for court action on federal suits
Home care still waiting for court action on federal suits
By MATTHEW HAY
HHBR Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON Home care representatives hoping for relief from federal courts are still waiting for action in several cases.
"The courts are still sitting on everything that we gave to them months ago," said the National Association for Home Care’s (NAHC; Washington) Bill Dombi.
One case argues that the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) violated the Regulatory Flexibility Act by failing to undertake an impact analysis prior to implementing the interim payment system (IPS). NAHC argues that the HCFA was required to consider alternatives to IPS that would have had a less adverse impact.
NAHC is also waiting for a decision for summary judgement and motion for class certification in O’Neil vs. Shalala. That case attempts to expand the Medicare benefit to disabled individuals not considered homebound.
In addition, there is the Healy case in Connecticut that NAHC filed a motion for intervention. That case involves Medicare beneficiaries who were denied services. Dombi said there was an oral argument last month on the cross-motion for summary judgement by government and beneficiary advocates. But he said the court never ruled on the association’s motion to intervene in the case.
The one bright spot for home care providers is the Olmstead case, which the Supreme Court issued a decision on last year. In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that unnecessary institutionalization of individuals is discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The court explained states may meet their obligation by having comprehensive plans designed to ensure that individuals with disabilities receive services..
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS; Washington) responded by putting out a notice to the state Medicaid programs instructing them to develop a compliance plan for Olmstead. HHS also issued a series of recommendations on how they could analyze whether their programs achieve the level of integration required with an emphasis on looking at home care instead of institutional care.
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