Judge: Medicaid Patients Can Sue Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Medicaid-eligible patients with developmental disabilities may sue Florida for limiting their enrollment in the state's home and community-based care waiver program and putting them on a wait list, sometimes for years, a federal judge ruled in Tallahassee.
Home and community-based care has become a preferred alternative to long-term institutional care. Florida's Medicaid-funded waiver program allows developmentally disabled people to receive state services for less than the cost of institutional care, reintegrating patients with their communities and families.
The plaintiffs, on behalf of thousands of developmentally disabled Floridians eligible for Medicaid, accused Florida of mismanaging its Home and Community Based Services Waiver Program.