Lawsuit Challenges West Virginia Plans To Change Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Waiver

On July 24, 2015, five individuals with developmental disabilities sued the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) alleging that the state’s recent changes to the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) Medicaid waiver violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In May 2015, DHHR submitted a waiver amendment to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to reduce funding levels by up to $90 million for home-and community-based services (HCBS) provided through the I/DD waiver. In particular, DHHR seeks to reduce the number of respite care hours per participant by half . . .