A federal court judge in Connecticut ruled that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services must stop enforcing a Trump-era rule which terminated Medicaid benefits for some enrollees during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Judge Michael Shea issued a nationwide injunction that required HHS to reach out to state agency Medicaid directors to make sure they comply and reinstate individuals kicked off the Medicaid rolls during the pandemic. However, advocates are worried the announcement was less than straight-forward.
In a Feb. 7 letter, HHS Deputy Administrator and Director Daniel Tsai said: “Please consider this letter notification that HHS is fulfilling the requirements of the Court’s order. HHS will refrain from enforcing the challenged portion of the IFR with respect to the members of the certified class, through the close of business on March 31, 2023, and HHS reinstates its previous guidance with respect to the class members.”
Sheldon Toubman, an attorney with Disability Rights Connecticut, worries that the states haven’t really been told exactly what this means even if HHS technically complied with Shea’s order.
He said the states need to reinstate people retroactively to the date of termination.
“They were not told in a way that explicitly tells them there’s a duty to reinstate people,” Toubman said.
There’s potentially 13,000 individuals impacted here in Connecticut, and an unknown number of individuals nationwide.
The original lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut by three Connecticut plaintiffs in early August. Two of the three plaintiffs received a temporary reprieve when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services temporarily restored benefits pending a court hearing which is scheduled for Sept. 27.
Without these services, Deborah Carr, one of the named plaintiffs, will be unable to dress, transfer from her wheelchair or out of bed, use the toilet, bathe and eat. Similarly, absent these services, Brenda Moore, another plaintiff, will be unable to bathe, dress, transfer, clean herself after using the bathroom and prepare meals, and will be subject to harmful falls, as have happened in the past.
And Mary Ellen Wilson, the third plaintiff, has Multiple Sclerosis and many dental problems. Her dental work is no longer covered and she has had to pay for cabs to get to medical appointments, even though Medicaid has paid for this in the past.
The nationwide class covered by the ruling consists of all individuals who were enrolled in Medicaid in any state or the District of Columbia on March 18, 2020 or later and had their Medicaid eligibility terminated or reduced to a lower level of benefits on or after November 6, 2020, or will have their Medicaid eligibility terminated or reduced to a lower level of benefits prior to a redetermination conducted after the end of the Public Health Emergency, for a reason other than moving out of the state or the District (including through death) or voluntarily disenrolling from benefits.
