The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld a lower judge's decision to temporarily block the Arkansas Department of Human Services from implementing changes to in-home health services for a group of low-income patients.
The court sided with seven disabled Medicaid recipients who had sued the state when their services were cut after a computer program was installed to determine how much care they needed. Previously, the level of care was determined by a nurse.
The patients had argued that in installing the computer program, the Human Services Department skirted public notice requirements. After a six-hour hearing in February, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen issued a temporary restraining order barring the state from using the new program to cut services to the patients, whose conditions included cerebral palsy and near-total paralysis.
The order was put in place until a full trial could be heard, and one was scheduled for July.
Instead, the state appealed, arguing that Griffen abused his discretion in determining that the patients had a likelihood of winning their case. The high court on Thursday said there was no error in Griffen's call.
The lawsuit was prepared by Legal Aid attorney Kevin De Liban, who called Thursday's ruling "the latest in a string of losses for the Department of Human Services about this issue.
"If the state hadn't appealed, the issue would have already been decided at trial," De Liban said.
Now, a trial will likely occur next year, he said.
A spokesman for the Department of Human Services did not return a request for comment left Thursday afternoon.
According to court filings, the seven patients who sued the state saw the number of hours of care they received in a given week cut by more than 40 percent. In a phone call, De Liban said his clients had lived with their reduced care in periods ranging from a few days to a few months.
The court filings alleged that as a result of the reduced care, some clients went without food because they were not being looked after as much, and some laid in soiled clothes, missed exercises and had increased risks of falling.
Throughout the program, called ARChoices, about 47 percent of patients saw their services cut because of an evaluation by the computer program, called Resource Utilization Groups system or RUGs. Another 43 percent got more services, the state alleged in court papers, and the rest saw no change.
The ARChoices program uses Medicaid funds to provide in-home care to patients with debilitating conditions, rather than placing those people in a nursing home.
The restraining order only applied to those patients who had joined the lawsuit, who De Liban said were among the hardest hit by the change.
The appeal of Griffen's restraining order was argued before the high court Oct. 26. Thursday's opinion was penned by Chief Justice Dan Kemp.
Metro on 11/10/2017