Attorney Robert H. Farley, Jr. Files a New Class Action Lawsuit Against the State Of Illinois on Behalf of Children

On December 8, 2016, Attorney Robert H. Farley, Jr. filed a Federal Class Action lawsuit against the State of Illinois as the result of its failure to provide medically necessary in-home skilled nursing services to individuals on Medicaid when they turn 21 years of age. Although the State of Illinois settled a lawsuit in 2013 (Hampe v. Hamos) which allowed medically necessary nursing services to continue past the age of 21 for those persons who had been previously enrolled in the Medically Fragile Technology Dependent (MFTD) Waiver program, the State failed to extend the same protection to individuals aging out of the Nursing and Personal Care Services (NPCS) program. This lawsuit seeks to provide medically necessary nursing services to people with disabilities who age out of the NPCS program at the age of 21.

The policy and practice of the State of Illinois is to reduce the existing medical nursing funding by approximately 50% based solely on the fact that the person turns 21 years of age. This reduction in funding is not due to a change in the person's medical needs but on the fact that the person's funding at age 21 comes from a different State program, which has significant caps on funding. The reduction in funding will either result in the person becoming institutionalized (hospitalized) or if they remain in their home without sufficient skilled nursing care, then they face a strong possibility of a life threatening episode. Persons aging out of the NPCS program are entitled to receive these medically necessary in-home skilled nursing services under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and under the Rehabilitation Act.