Appeals court: Missouri Medicaid policy appears unreasonable

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Jefferson City — A lawsuit over last year’s Medicaid cuts gained new life today as a federal appeals court suggested it was unreasonable of Missouri to deny coverage of certain medical equipment to most low-income adults.

A panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the denial of a preliminary injunction last September by a trial judge and instead directed him to reconsider the case.

In doing so, the appeals court said Missouri’s policy of covering some durable medical equipment but not others appears unreasonable under federal Medicaid rules and court precedent. The court also said the plaintiffs — several disabled Missourians — had shown a likelihood of legal success.

In 2005, Republican Gov. Matt Blunt and the GOP-led Legislature enacted numerous cost-cutting changes to the Medicaid health care program for the poor. One of those eliminated coverage of such things as wheelchair batteries, catheters, bed rails and communication devices to most adults while continuing the coverage for the blind, pregnant, homebound and children.
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060622/BREAKING01/60622014