In the lawsuit, advocates say the Medicaid program’s incomplete mental and behavioral health system disproportionately affects children from low-income families, youth under 21, LGBTQ youth, and youth of color. said it is affecting
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In January, three patient advocacy groups and a national law firm told the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that the state’s Medicaid program had inappropriate mental and behavioral health benefits for children on Medicaid. filed a lawsuit alleging that it did not provide care. The group claimed that the children had serious emotional problems and needed intensive home and community-based services.
DHHS manages two health insurance companies that provided care to adults and children in the state’s Medicaid program last year.
Related: Audits and lawsuits plague Medicaid managed care in Iowa
The lawsuit was joined by the Iowa Disability Advocacy Group in Des Moines. Children’s Rights, New York State. Patient advocacy groups allege that Washington, D.C.’s National Health Act program says the Medicaid program’s incomplete mental and behavioral health system is affecting children from low-income families, youth under age 21, LGBTQ youth, and people of color. It disproportionately affects the young of the species. Representing her three unnamed children who are disabled and have mental and emotional problems. According to the complaint, the plaintiffs are seeking class action status in this action on behalf of all children participating in Medicaid programs, a class that includes approximately 8,700 to 13,000 children. It is said that there is a possibility.
This lawsuit is the second lawsuit filed by two patient advocacy groups (Disability Rights and Children’s Rights) against Iowa’s Medicaid agency. In 2017, two supporters accused the state of failing to provide adequate mental health care to children with severe mental illness attending Boys State Training School in Eldora, Iowa, according to court records. filed a lawsuit against the state Medicaid agency. In the lawsuit, advocates and law firms say authorities administered dangerous psychotropic drugs without proper supervision or informed consent, and illegally held children in solitary confinement or as punishment for minor rule violations. accused of being subjected to mechanical restraint.
In 2020, U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose ruled in favor of plaintiffs, finding that the use of mechanical restraints at the facility constitutes “torture.” She also appointed juvenile justice consultants to monitor school conditions and ordered the state to pay $4.9 million in fees to plaintiffs’ attorneys.