Disabled Iowans, fed up with cuts under privatized Medicaid, sue Gov. Reynolds [View all]

Iowa’s roiling controversy over its for-profit Medicaid management spilled into federal court Tuesday when six Iowans with disabilities filed a lawsuit against Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The lawsuit alleges that the state’s chaotic shift to a privately run Medicaid program is depriving thousands of Iowans with disabilities the legal right to live safely outside of care facilities. The suit holds Reynolds and her human services director responsible for the private management companies' actions.

“They are violating very basic human rights, but also very basic Medicaid law, rules and regulations. They’re just totally disregarding them,” said Roxanne Conlin, a Des Moines civil-rights lawyer who helped write the lawsuit. “It’s kind of amazing to see how callous they are toward Iowa’s most vulnerable people.”

The prominent advocacy group Disability Rights Iowa organized the lawsuit against Reynolds and the director of the Department of Human Services. The group wants a federal judge to order the state to halt discriminatory cuts in services to 15,000 Iowans with serious disabilities.

Read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/investigations/2017/06/13/disabled-iowans-medicaid-privatization-lawsuit/370484001/