States Can Limit the Number of Individuals with a Developmental Disability Participating in a Community Placement Medicaid Waiver Program Without Violating the ADA

Arc of Wash. State Inc. v. Braddock, 403 F.3d 641 (9th Cir. 2005)

The federal Medicaid Act furnishes funds to the states to help them provide care to eligible low-income persons.  Although states are not required to participate, if they accept this federal funding, which all fifty states do, they must comply with federal requirements and regulations.  Washington, like many states under the Medicaid waiver program, provides a variety of non-institutional care options for qualified persons with a developmental disability who desire to live at home or independently.   Medicaid, and in turn the State of Washington, limits the availability of these services to a given number of individuals (9,977 when this lawsuit was commenced) to control the program's costs, which are jointly paid by the federal and state governments. Because all available slots are full and because openings generally occur only when a person who is currently receiving home or community-based services dies or becomes ineligible for services (which occurs relatively infrequently), extended delays may occur before a qualified individual is able to obtain these services...

Found in DMHL Volume 25 Issue 1