A federal judge on Friday issued a temporary order preventing the Arkansas Department of Human Services from reducing the Medicaid benefits provided to a Helena-West Helena woman who has Alzheimer's disease.
U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. issued the order during a telephone hearing a day after 90-year-old Ethel Jacobs dropped her administrative appeal over the benefit cut, said Kevin De Liban, an attorney with Legal Aid of Arkansas who represents Jacobs in the case.
The order prevents the Human Services Department from reducing Jacobs' benefits while her lawsuit against the agency is pending.
Marshall also dismissed another plaintiff, Bradley Ledgerwood, 34, of Cash, from the case, finding that Ledgerwood's complaint became moot after his administrative appeal succeeded.
Jacobs and Ledgerwood, who has cerebral palsy, filed the lawsuit in May over the department's use of a computerized assessment tool to determine how much reimbursement Medicaid recipients can receive for help with daily living tasks, such as dressing and eating.
As a result of annual assessments using the tool, known as the ArPath, the department reduced the number of hours it would pay Ledgerwood's parents for such assistance from 56 hours per week to 32 hours per week.
A similar assessment resulted in a reduction in the number of hours the department would pay Jacobs' son, Louis Welch, from 45 per week to 35 per week.
Jacobs and Ledgerwood say the assessments violate their rights under federal laws and the U.S. Constitution, in part because the department hasn't provided them with information about how the tool works.
Marshall had put proceedings in the case on hold while administrative appeals over the benefit reductions were pending.
Ledgerwood won his appeal last week when a hearing officer found that the Human Services Department did not issue a notice that adequately explained the reason for the reduction.
In such instances, the department typically issues a new notice containing the required information, a department spokesman has said. De Liban said a new notice hadn't been issued as of Friday.
A hearing on Jacobs' administrative appeal had been scheduled for Friday.
De Liban said Jacobs and her son ended the appeal to clear the way for the lawsuit, which could provide a more permanent resolution to the dispute.
Metro on 07/02/2016