Attorneys with the state Department of Human Services on Friday asked a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit by two Medicaid recipients who say their home-based services were unfairly reduced after an annual assessment of their needs.
Filed by Legal Aid of Arkansas on behalf of Bradley Ledgerwood, 34, of Cash, who has cerebral palsy, and Ethel Jacobs, 90, of Helena-West Helena, who has Alzheimer's disease, the suit contends the department's assessment tool, known as ArPath, has resulted in arbitrary reductions and terminations of home-based services for the elderly and disabled since 2013.
The plaintiffs want U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. to issue an order preventing the department from reducing the hours of Medicaid-funded help that Ledgerwood and Jacobs receive with daily living tasks, such as dressing and bathing.
Ledgerwood, whose services are provided by his parents, was told in February that his reimbursement for home-based services would be cut from 56 hours per week to 32 hours per week, according to the lawsuit.
Jacobs, whose services are provided by her son, was told her care reimbursement would be reduced from 45 hours to 35 hours.
The service cuts have been put on hold while administrative appeals are pending.
In court filings Friday, Human Services Department attorneys said Jacobs and Ledgerwood could be eligible for up to 1,200 hours per year of "in-home respite care services," but "currently decline" those services.
The attorneys also said ArPath is based on an assessment tool "developed by researchers from over 30 countries committed to improving care for the disabled or medically complex."
From Jan. 1 through May 1, assessments using the tool resulted in no change or increases in attendant care services hours for 53 percent of recipients, the attorneys said.
Kevin De Liban, an attorney with Legal Aid of Arkansas, said Friday that Ledgerwood and Jacobs were never offered respite care services and that those services aren't meant to "cover gaps created by an insufficient number of attendant care hours."
A formal response by Legal Aid of Arkansas is due in the case next week.
Metro on 05/21/2016