The administration of West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) on Wednesday announced it would settle a lawsuit over stricter eligibility guidelines adopted in November 2005 that disqualified hundreds of seniors and residents with disabilities from a state sponsored in-home medical care program, the Charleston Gazette reports (Finn, Charleston Gazette, 9/21). The lawsuit alleged that the program unfairly discriminated against mentally disabled people (AP/Charleston Daily Mail, 9/21). The settlement requires the state Bureau of Medical Services to stop using the new guidelines to determine eligibility for the state's Aged and Disabled Waiver program, which provides funding for in-home health care workers. The state also must reinstate all people removed from the program because of medical evaluations conducted after Nov. 1, 2005, and use the previous standards to re-evaluate those who were denied access to the program after the new guidelines were implemented. Martha Walker, the state's Department of Health and Human Resources secretary, in a statement said that the state Legislature will be asked to provide additional funding for the program to complete the evaluations. Delegate Don Perdue (D) said the Legislature also is willing to provide funding to expand the number of people who receive in-home health services (Charleston Gazette, 9/21). The settlement could restore in-home services for between 100 and 800 state residents, according to health department spokesperson John Law (AP/Charleston Daily Mail, 9/21).

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