August 2001 General E-Bulletin

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"There's No Place Like Home": Elderly and Disabled Win Independence In Landmark Settlement Agreement

AUGUST 21, 2001---NEW ORLEANS, LA: The Advocacy Center announces agreement to settle a statewide class action lawsuit that will have a dramatic impact on long-term care services in Louisiana. Lois Simpson, Executive Director of the Advocacy Center, says the Barthelemy settlement represents the first crack in the wall that has kept Louisianians with disabilities imprisoned in institutions. "People want change and this settlement will help people with disabilities and seniors achieve the changes they have long been waiting for."

The suit, Barthlemey v. Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, was filed just over a year ago in federal court on behalf of five individuals then living in nursing homes, one individual at risk of nursing home admission and one non profit group that serves people with severe disabilities. Because the suit is a class action, the 36-page agreement potentially covers hundreds -- and possibly thousands -- of the state's 27,000 nursing-home residents, as well as those in hospitals or living at home but at imminent risk of going into nursing homes.

Home and community based services for adults with disabilities and seniors in Louisiana are generally provided through Medicaid "waiver" programs. Such waiver programs have years-long waiting lists for very few spaces. These programs offer personal care, home modification, adult day care, and emergency response systems, and are key to avoiding institutionalization, advocates say. Under the terms of the Barthelemy settlement, the state has agreed to greatly expand the number of persons who will be served by waiver programs. By the end of 2005, qualifying applicants will wait no more than 90 days for services in their homes and communities.

The settlement also provides for a new "personal care" service for Medicaid-eligible adults who would otherwise go into nursing homes. This service provides up to 56 hours of assistance in the home with such needs as personal care, cleaning, cooking, and getting in and out of bed. Together, the waivers and personal care service make it possible for more people to stay in their homes.

Plaintiff Richard Nagle, 41 years old and quadriplegic since a diving accident in 1982, says a paid personal care assistant "will allow me to live like other adults, in my own home, free to come and go". Nagle's 78-year-old parents are and have been his primary caretakers since his accident. "This provides the tools needed to support the choices of the consumer, something previously lacking in Louisiana," said Yavonka Archaga, director of the non-profit Resources for Independent Living, also a plaintiff in the suit.

In addition to the new services, the state will launch a campaign to inform people who might be eligible for the at-home programs, and introduce a simplified application process, including a toll-free number for information about community services.

A team including Philadelphia disability rights attorney Steve Gold, local Advocacy Center attorneys Nell Hahn and Terri Bewig, and Texas attorney David Kahne represents the class. In the near future, the settlement calls for plaintiffs' representatives and DHH to develop the streamlined application process and training materials for hospital social workers and others who arrange long-term care.

Judge Edith Brown Clement must approve the settlement, and a hearing is set for 10 a.m. September 19 at the U.S. District Courthouse on Camp Street in New Orleans.

Contact: Lois Simpson (504) 522-2337
Nell Hahn (337) 237-7380

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