The Indiana Health Care Association and five of its members filed a lawsuit late last month to block a 5% cut in nursing-home reimbursement rates under the Indiana Medicaid program.
The lawsuit, filed in Marion County Superior Court, Indianapolis, alleges that the state's Family and Social Services Administration, which oversees the Medicaid program, violated state statutes governing emergency rulemaking. The association, which represents mostly for-profit nursing homes, seeks a temporary restraining order that would invalidate the cut, which went into effect Oct. 1.
State Medicaid Director Melanie Bella denied the suit's allegations, saying the department followed the proper procedures and will argue accordingly in court.
According to the association, the lawsuit is similar to a suit brought by pharmacists and pharmacies protesting a similar 5% emergency-rule cut in drug reimbursements that was part of the same effort to cut Medicaid spending. In September, a Marion County Superior Court judge granted a preliminary injunction that halted the drug cuts. A hearing in the nursing-home case is expected Nov. 5.
