2/12/14
Federal Judge Grants Class Action for all Medicaid-Eligible Children Under the Age of 21 who have been Diagnosed with a Mental Health or Behavioral Disorder in the State of Illinois Attorneys Robert H. Farley Jr., Michelle N. Schneiderheinze and Mary Denise Cahill have secured a major court ruling in the litigation against the State of Illinois for failing to comply with federal law which requires all Medicaid eligible children up to the age of 21 to receive diagnostic and treatment services to address their behavioral or emotional or mental health disorders. On February 13, 2014, United States District Court Judge John F. Tharp, Jr., in N.B., et. al., v. Hamos, Case No. 11-6866, ruled that the lawsuit filed by nine Medicaid-eligible youths (under age 21) who have been diagnosed with various mental illnesses and/or emotional or behavioral disorders, including developmental disabilities can proceed as a class action against the State of Illinois. Judge Tharp certified the class defined as follows: All Medicaid-eligible children under the age of 21 in the State of Illinois: (1) who have been diagnosed with a mental health or behavioral disorder; and (2) for whom a licensed practitioner of the healing arts has recommended intensive home- and community- based services to correct or ameliorate their disorders. The lawsuit against the State of Illinois alleges that the Illinois Medicaid program fails to meaningfully provide intensive community-based residential or outpatient care for children with mental illness and emotional or behavioral disorders, instead over-relying on hospitals to provide temporary acute care, followed by grossly inadequate outpatient services consisting of little more than medication management and one hour per week of counseling. Judge Tharp has scheduled a status hearing on this case on March 13, 2014.
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