U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks issued a ruling putting an end to a longstanding issue in Florida where Medicaid-reliant children with complex health needs requiring constant care are placed in nursing homes, the Miami Herald reported July 18.
Once placed in this type of care, the system in place made it difficult for parents to get out of, according to the news outlet. Now, the judge has outlined key steps for parents to remove their children and keep them at home instead.
Mr. Middlebrooks ruled that Florida health officials were responsible for "violating the rights of children with medical complexity who rely upon the provision of vital Medicaid services and are trying, in vain, to avoid growing up in nursing homes," he wrote, according to the Herald.
However, a spokesperson for the Agency for Health Care Administration, which oversees Medicaid in the state, said it intends to seek an appeal, stating that "The judge's failure to understand the law is demonstrable in his order. The court's conclusion that the state's actions or omissions force children to live in nursing homes against their parents' wishes is unsupported and refuted by the evidence presented at trial," according to the Herald.