A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Indiana’s Medicaid agency likely violated federal law by removing families with medically complex children from the attendant care program.
Judge Tanya Wilson Pratt’s order is the latest development in a months-long dispute over the program, which provides hourly reimbursement to parents caring for children with severe medical needs. On July 1, the Family and Social Services Administration FSSA ended parents’ eligibility for the program, requiring them to either designate someone else as a caregiver, institutionalize their child, or enroll in a less lucrative structured family caregiving program.
Pratt sided with two mothers whose children need constant care, stating that the FSSA likely violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by pushing families toward institutionalization.
Pratt noted that while she cannot entirely block the FSSA’s changes, she will grant the families’ request to stop the changes with some modifications. She ordered the FSSA to immediately provide skilled nursing services to the families and reimburse them under the structured family caregiving program.
Medicaid, a joint federal-state program, helps cover health care for low-income individuals, with coverage and eligibility varying by state.