Idaho Settles Lawsuit Challenging The Medicaid DD Budget Formula

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit in September 2016 that challenged the way the state set individual service budgets for adults enrolled in the Medicaid developmental disability (DD) waiver. The lawsuit, K.W. v. Armstrong, was filed in 2012. It protested a new individual budget process implemented in July 2011 that linked the individual’s budget to assessed needs and status to anticipated expenditures for home- and community-based services (HCBS).

The new process resulted in significant cuts in service levels for many adults enrolled in the waiver. The plaintiffs said . . .