Lawsuit challenges cutbacks in state DHH home care

A federal lawsuit has been filed against the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, saying that more than 11,000 state residents could be placed in institutions because of cutbacks in home care services.

The New Orleans-based Advocacy Center filed the suit last Wednesday on behalf of four disabled patients. The suit alleges the people will be forced into nursing homes because of a new state rule limiting them to 32 hours a week of home care. That’s down from the previous limit of 42 hours.

The suit contends discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“It is discriminatory to force people with disabilities to be institutionalized in order to receive care that can just as easily be provided to them in their own homes and communities,” Nell Hahn, the Advocacy Center’s litigation director, told The Times-Picayune.

A state Medicaid program was started in 2004 to provide home-based “personal care services” to anyone who qualifies for Medicaid-financed nursing-home care through income and disability. Home care attendants help recipients with everyday chores such as cooking and laundry, as well as with bathing and using the bathroom.

DHH spokeswoman Lisa Faust said Louisiana has made great strides in recent years to expand the availability of home-care services. Even with the reduced hours, Louisiana still offers more services than the national average of about 25 hours per week, she said.

In 2001, a suit brought by the Advocacy Group resulted in a legal settlement that led to the creation of the home care program. That settlement expired last year.