Federal lawsuit challenges Missouri's medical equipment payment cutbacks

ST. LOUIS -- Seven disabled Missourians filed a federal lawsuit Monday, saying the state's decision to stop paying for certain medical equipment through the Medicaid program is illegal.

Ten public interest law organizations are supporting the suit, announced at a news conference at the Saint Louis University Legal Clinic. None of the plaintiffs attended.

"Without the machines, I know I could die," Susan Lankford, 48, of Sullivan, said in a telephone interview. She suffers from several breathing and digestive illnesses.

The federal lawsuit against Missouri social services director Gary Sherman, filed in Jefferson City, seeks a temporary restraining order to block cuts that will eliminate payment for equipment like wheelchair batteries and accessories, hydraulic patient lifts, devices that help people communicate and those that help prevent bed sores. The cuts are scheduled to become effective Thursday.

"The only exceptions are children, pregnant women and the blind. Everyone else gets cut out," said plaintiffs' attorney Thomas Kennedy. "There is not any other state experiencing cuts like this."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services declined comment on the lawsuit, saying officials had not seen it.

Under state budget cuts, Medicaid coverage was eliminated for more than 90,000 of the 1 million recipients. Hundreds of thousands of adults remaining on the state-federal insurance program for the elderly, poor and disabled will receive fewer benefits while paying more out of pocket through premiums, co-payments and personal medical expenses.

Federal law mandates that certain medical equipment must be provided to all those eligible for Medicaid, the lawsuit contends.

Saint Louis University law professor Sidney Watson said the cuts to some recipients but not others was discriminatory. She said it was unreasonable not to cover items that doctors said were necessary for their patients, and that cuts would cost more money in the long-run if sick people had to go to hospitals and nursing homes for care after they couldn't get medical equipment.

"It's penny-wise and pound foolish," she said.

The disability advocates said about 370,000 Missourians stand to lose medical equipment. However, the Department of Social Services said there are only about 339,000 people in Missouri who could possibly use the medical equipment, spokeswoman Deborah Scott said.

Gov. Matt Blunt has said Medicaid cuts were necessary as he worked to provide more money for schools without raising taxes. Blunt included medical equipment as part of the cuts, based on an understanding of the law that the items were considered optional for coverage under Medicaid.

Lankford said that for her, the equipment is a lifeline, and one she cannot afford to pay for on her own. She has lung problems, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema.

She uses an oxygen machine at times throughout the day, and at night while she sleeps. While it appears that the state will continue to provide the machine that assists with her sleep apnea, the cuts will not pay for filters and oxygen hoses needed to keep the machine running.

"It doesn't make sense, does it? They give you one thing, but not the parts you need to run it," she said.

Some of the lawyers involved in the medical equipment lawsuit sued Blunt and Sherman earlier this month to halt adoption subsidy cuts for former foster children.