Shapiro Admin Rules for Pennsylvania Medicaid Recipients Spark Lawsuit From People With Disabilities
Earlier this year, some Pennsylvanians with disabilities and their families won a major victory. Commonwealth Court struck downtwo rules that affected people with intellectual disabilities and autism in Pennsylvania’s Medicaid program, saying the state didn’t follow a required process for implementing those rules as regulations and “they must be considered null and void.” One rule limited how long the program would pay for support services when people traveled out of state, while the second limited how many hours per week relatives could work as paid caregivers. The decisions, one national advocate said, affected “whether people with disabilities have a real choice in where and how they live.” But Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration responded by reimposing similar limits on many of these same Medicaid participants through agreements and consent forms, saying the court’s rulings were about process, not the underlying policies, and arguing the state has a responsibility to protect the integrity and financial stability of the Medicaid program. The administration gave participants an Aug. 6 deadline to sign new agreements or else they could …
