Levi Townsend v. Lyle Quasim, Secretary of the State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services (Dshs)

Opinion by Judge BERZON; Dissent by Judge BEEZER.

OPINION

Levi Townsend, as representative for a certified class of disabled Medicaid recipients residing in Washington state, appeals a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Secretary (“the Secretary”) of the State of Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services (“DSHS”). Mr. Townsend contends that the state’s use of community-based services to provide essential long term care to some disabled Medicaid recipients but not others violates Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and a Department of Justice regulation implementing the ADA and mandating that public entities administer and deliver government services to qualified disabled persons in “the most integrated setting” possible. See 42 U.S.C. § 12132 ; 28 C.F.R. § 35.130 (d).

Because we find that the Secretary’s refusal to offer community-based in-home nursing services to some disabled persons may violate the ADA, we reverse the district court’s grant of summary judgment for the Secretary. In consideration of the Secretary’s arguments that extending eligibility for in-home nursing services to all the state’s disabled Medicaid…

dissenting:

Levi Townsend contends that the Americans with Disabilities Act requires Washington to create a home and community care program for disabled Medicaid recipients who fall into Medicaid’s “medically needy” category. Because the comprehensive structure of the Medicaid Act forecloses this result, Townsend’s claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act should fail. The court’s opinion to the contrary fails to accord sufficient weight to the Medicaid Act’s statutory scheme.

I respectfully dissent.

*521 I

The Medicaid Act recognizes three broad categories of services that states may use to provide long term medical care to eligible Medicaid recipients. These three service categories are defined by federal law and are defined with reference to where an eligible recipient resides and receives care.

The first category of services are “nursing facility services” (“nursing home care”), which involve medical services provided to Medicaid recipients whose needs require institutionalization in nursing homes. 1 At a minimum, states must provide nursing home care to the neediest Medicaid recipients, those who are classified as “categorically needy.” 2 States have the option of…

328 F.3d 511 Levi TOWNSEND, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Lyle QUASIM, Secretary of the State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), Defendant-Appellee. No. 01-35689. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted September 12, 2002. Filed May 1, 2003. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Katrin E. Frank, Timothy K. Ford and Andrea Brenneke, MacDonald, Hoague & Bayless, Seattle, Washington, for the plaintiff-appellant. Alan Smith and William L. Williams, Assistant Attorneys General, Department of the Attorney General, State of Washington, Olympia, Washington, for the defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington; Thomas S. Zilly, District Judge, Presiding, D.C. No. CV-00-00944-TSZ. Before: BEEZER, GOULD and BERZON, Circuit Judges. Opinion by Judge BERZON; Dissent by Judge BEEZER. OPINION BERZON, Circuit Judge. 1 Levi Townsend, as representative for a certified class of disabled Medicaid recipients residing in Washington state, appeals a district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Secretary ("the Secretary") of the State of Washington's Department of Social and Health Services…