Colorado settles lawsuit over placement of disabled in nursing homes

Colorado has agreed to do more to prevent the unnecessary isolation of thousands of disabled people in nursing homes, settling a federal lawsuit that alleged state health officials were illegally isolating too many people.

Representatives of the US Department of Justice announced the settlement on Friday. Colorado state officials have pledged to take the following actions by February 2026:

— Help thousands of nursing home residents move

— To identify people who are at risk of unnecessary imprisonment

— Provide information necessary for selection.

— To help people with disabilities find affordable housing

— Connect people to Medicaid long-term care services

— Empowering people with disabilities to take control of their care

— Support family caregivers

“People with disabilities should not have to give up their lives in the community and be isolated in care facilities to get the services they need,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Clark.

AND The contract is 32 pages long “sends the message that people with disabilities deserve the same lives as others and makes it clear that our family members, friends and neighbors with disabilities add value to our lives and strengthen our communities when they can get the services they need services to them right inside their own home,” Clark said.

That’s what a federal lawsuit filed in September 2023 decides. Federal investigators found Colorado violated the Americans with Disabilities Act due to unjustified restriction of people with physical disabilities. They found that Colorado has more people with low care needs in nursing homes than all but nine states.

Under the ADA, states are required to make services available to people with disabilities in the least restrictive, most integrated settings that meet their needs. Services include assistance with bathing, dressing, taking medications, and preparing meals.

Colorado “is violating the ADA by operating its long-term care system in a way that unnecessarily segregates people with physical disabilities in care facilities and exposes others with physical disabilities to serious risk of unnecessary institutionalization,” federal prosecutors warned in a March 2022 letter to Gov. Jared Polis

The lawsuit alleges Colorado had too few housing providers, especially those that could help people find housing that met their needs. Colorado officials regularly increased payments to nursing homes but not to community-based providers, the lawsuit says, contributing to the problem by making home care services financially unattractive.

The lawsuit says the state indirectly pushed people into nursing homes by not requiring home care providers to plan when designated workers were sick, leading to unreliable home care. It said state health officials refused to pay for home modifications, such as installing wheelchair ramps, for people who wanted to move out of nursing homes. State agencies failed to offer assistance to people who needed to find affordable housing, the lawsuit alleged, and failed to inform people with disabilities of services available at the home. Lengthy background checks have led to delays in transitioning out of nursing homes, the lawsuit says.

Colorado Department of Health Policy and Financing denied the federal charges. Health officials and the attorney general declined to discuss the legal settlement on Friday. In a statement, HCPF officials said they agreed to settle the lawsuit to spare taxpayers the cost of a lengthy legal battle.

“More than 83% of Colorado’s Medicaid participants with disabilities who receive long-term services and supports receive them in their own homes and communities, rather than in institutional settings,” said HCPF Director Kim Beamestefer. “It’s a number we’ve worked very hard on and one we continue to improve every year.”

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Originally published: November 2, 2024 at 6:00 AM MDT