Legal Aid Bureau, AARP Sue State to Expand Maryland’s Medicaid Services
AARP and the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the state on behalf of seven elderly residents, seeking to expand Medicaid services to more low-income beneficiaries, particularly those who need assistance at home, the Baltimore Sun reports. The lawsuit, filed in Baltimore Circuit Court, argues that the guidelines in Maryland's Medicaid program for determining how sick a person must be to qualify for help are too strict. According to the Sun, the plaintiffs need significant help at home because of physical problems or dementia, but they do not need nursing home care, the lawsuit says. Most of the patients in the lawsuit applied for Medicaid services through the Older Adults Waiver waiting list but ultimately were turned down because they did not meet medical standards to qualify for the program. Sarah Lenz Lock, an attorney for the AARP Foundation, said Maryland's standards are among the strictest in the nation, and they violate federal law. "Because Maryland applies the wrong standard, our seniors are left without adequate care," Regan Bailey, a Legal Aid lawyer, said. If the standards are changed, the per-person increase in costs could "amount to tens of thousands of dollars annually," the Sun reports. Officials for Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene did not comment on the lawsuit, but Mark Leeds, director of long-term care and community support services at the agency, said the state determines eligibility by "looking at the whole person -- functional and cognitive status (Salganik, Baltimore Sun, 1/19).
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