The AARP recently announced the approval of a settlement in a long-running class action suit against the state of Arizona challenging its administration of Medicaid waiver programs.
The case, Ball v. Betlach (formerly Ball v. Biedess and Ball v. Rodgers), has wound its way through federal court since it was filed in 2000. According to the plaintiffs – elderly, physically disabled and developmentally disabled Medicaid beneficiaries -- Arizona systematically violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and Medicaid law by failing to provide promised and necessary care to Medicaid home care recipients. The AARP cites several egregious examples of the state's negligence, including "one 77-year-old woman unable to walk or get out of bed unassisted [who] was stranded in bed for more than 12 hours at a time when attendant care workers failed to arrive as promised" and "a 3-year-old boy with severe developmental disabilities who was authorized for 740 hours of care per year [and] received none."
Although the plaintiffs prevailed at trial in 2003, appeals and subsequent litigation delayed any actual resolution of the problem until the parties finally reached a settlement in October.
According to the AARP, the "settlement changes the manner in which services are determined, managed and delivered; incorporates specific protections for individuals with mental retardation or development delays in order to ensure they receive the services to which they are entitled; agrees to specific levels of funding; increases reimbursement rates to family care and adult foster care homes; creates a crisis stabilization program; and requires the state to advocate for changes and funding levels from the general assembly that meet the terms of the agreement."
AARP Foundation Litigation attorneys along with the Arizona Center for Disability Law represented the plaintiffs.
To read the AARP's bulletin on the settlement, click here.
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