MEDICAID WAIVER WAITING LIST

LIST CASE CAN MOVE FORWARD

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals recently decided that the federal lawsuit challenging the state's long waiting lists for Medicaid waiver services can proceed in district court. The suit was filed in January 1999, and last April District Court Judge Martha Vasquez denied the state's motion to dismiss the case. The state appealed her denial, claiming that, because of the state's sovereign immunity, it could not be sued over an alleged violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The state's appeal was heard before a three-judge panel on July 13 in Santa Fe. Prior to the hearing, the plaintiffs in the case - which include P&A - withdrew the ADA claim from the lawsuit, in order to avoid further potential delay of the case. Violations of the Medicaid act and due process claims remain to be addressed, and a motion to add a violation of Section 504 is pending.

About 3,000 people remain on the waiting list for Disabled and Elderly (D&E) services, even though over 400 funded slots are currently vacant, and only 1,336 persons are receiving services. The current waiting time for D&E services is over 2 years. There are around 2,000 people on the Developmental Disabilities (DD) waiting list, with 2,263 persons receiving services. The current waiting time for DD services is about 3 1/2 years.