BOISE, ID – Five patients sued state health officials over a contractor’s plans to cut critical Idaho Medicaid services for people with severe mental illness.
Idaho Medicaid contractor to cut critical services for people with severe mental illness
The lawsuit is the second the state has faced that attempts to stop Magellan of Idaho’s plans to cut specialized mobile teams that treat patients with severe mental illness who have struggled in routine settings. The patients filed their lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday, and are seeking class-action status to protect all Idahoans on the program.
Their arguments echo claims made by mental health clinics in a state court lawsuit last week: That the cuts would effectively end the program, risking worsening mental health conditions and overall public safety.
The cuts, patients argue, “will have cascading negative consequences for plaintiffs and for their families, including increasing acuity of mental health symptoms, more frequent and intense mental health crises, and an overall functional decline in their day-to-day lives not only impacting family and social connections but also their own well-being and personal safety as well as the safety of others and the public at large.”
Magellan’s cuts, announced late last month, stem from the state’s attempts to avoid a projected budget shortfall, the Idaho Capital Sun reported. The private company, which runs Idaho Medicaid mental health benefits, plans to cut peer support services and the mobile treatment program, called Assertive Community Treatment, on Dec. 1.
Spokespeople for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and Magellan declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying they don’t comment on pending litigation.
State officials ‘directed or authorized’ the contractor’s cuts, lawsuit alleges
The lawsuit is against three officials at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare: Agency Director Juliet Charron, Idaho Medicaid Deputy Director Sasha O’Connell and Division of Behavioral Health Administrator Ross Edmunds.
“Acting under color of state law, the government-official defendants either have directed or authorized the State’s contractor to make devastating changes to the administration of the … program,” patients argue in the lawsuit. “But their actions were unlawful, and this Court should grant relief to the plaintiffs.”
One patient suing, identified only as Ramon in the lawsuit, has seen his symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia drastically improve since receiving services through the program that is slated to be cut, the lawsuit says.
“Ramon is a new person. He has leveled out, is consistent with his medications, and follows through with his … treatment and management plans,” the lawsuit says. Since receiving services through the program, “Ramon has not been incarcerated, hospitalized, or institutionalized, which is quite a change for him given his prior pattern of incarceration and hospitalization.”
Before he was on the program, “his family relationship had been severed,” the lawsuit says. But the program, the lawsuit said, “has been instrumental in reuniting Ramon with his family.”
Many of the roughly 400 to 500 people on the program will end up homeless if the program ends, Tueller Counseling Clinical Director Tom Tueller previously told the Idaho Capital Sun.
Magellan cuts patients lawsuit
Thank you for reading this story!
We’re trying to raise $12,000 by the end of the year to fuel more state government watchdog reporting like this. Can you chip in?
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.
