Jackson Free Press

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U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate said Friday that he would rule by the end of this month on Mississippi Division of Medicaid's first count to dismiss the agency from a lawsuit in which justice advocates claim children are not receiving adequate mental-health treatment.

Last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and Jackson attorney Rob McDuff filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the state of Mississippi for not investing in community-based services, subjecting children to unnecessary institutionalization. The defendants include Gov. Haley Barbour; Mississippi Division of Medicaid Executive Director Robert Robinson; State Board of Mental Health Chairwoman Patricia Ainsworth; and State Board of Mental Health Executive Director Edward LeGrand.

The state had filed a motion to dismiss the case, but in March, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a brief in support of the plaintiffs. In the brief, the federal agency argued that Mississippi's current mental-health system "results in significant harm to children with behavioral or emotional disorders, including exacerbation of their conditions, deterioration to the point of crisis, and unnecessary institutionalization in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Accordingly, the United States has a strong interest in the resolution of this matter."

On Friday, Wingate heard arguments from the attorneys representing the Mississippi Division of Medicaid. Federal law requires Medicaid to implement its Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment Program, which evaluates children for all necessary health services including mental health.

Southern Poverty Law Center senior staff attorney Vanessa Carroll said Friday's hearing was just one of many steps in the lawsuit.

"The plaintiffs are claiming that they have a right to receive a range of intensive, community-based services to treat behavioral and emotional disorders," Carroll said. "We are arguing that the state has not provided them with community-based services but instead provided them with institutional-based care or limited out-patient counseling.

Carroll said that attorneys from the Mississippi attorney general's office argued Friday that the division is only obligated to pay for services, not "proactively" provide them.

"They are arguing that the Medicaid program only needs to function like an insurance company so plaintiffs have to identity what services they need and submit a claim to them, and if Medicaid fails to pay that claim (then) they have a claim for denial of services," Carroll said.

She added that the case is frozen until the judge resolves the motions for dismissal. She said defendants are expected to file another motion to dismiss the case by the end of this month.

Medicaid spokesman Francis Rullan issued the following statement:

"Our position is that Medicaid has not denied the plaintiffs any services. Contrary to what their attorney represented to the Court, Medicaid has authorized many services for these plaintiffs. When directly questioned by the Court, plaintiffs could not describe any service that Medicaid failed to approve. If Medicaid has not denied them any service, then plaintiffs have no cause of action against Medicaid."

Previous Comments

ID

164686

Comment

Interesting - Medicaid only pays out the claim, so therefore it falls on the agency to provide the services, however, when budgets are cut, and fiscal conservatives are trying to eradicate services - its only so much an agency can do in regards to providing the needed service. So in order for the treatment to be offered and/or provided, it has to exist or be in place. So who do you really blame?

Author

Duan C.

Date

2011-08-22T15:00:30-06:00