JEFFERSON CITY • Four ailing St. Louis residents, a Monroe City, Mo., man and Paraquad, a not-for-profit advocacy group for the disabled, sued state officials in federal court here Monday, claiming that they would be forced into nursing homes by cuts to the state Medicaid system.
The plaintiffs are St. Louis residents Cedric Booker, 57, John Dobson, 76, Annies White, 84, and Eddie Earl Jones, 63, and Monroe City resident Clifford Talton Jr., 69. They say in their suit that the end of state money for transportation and personal care services will mean that they will be unable to get thrice weekly dialysis, unless they move into a Medicaid-funded nursing home. They have various ailments and have no way to get to dialysis for various reasons, the suit says.
In a nursing home, those services will be covered, the suit says. The nursing home would be more expensive for the state than paying for only transport and dialysis, the plaintiffs say.
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The suit seeks a federal judge's order that would force the state to cover the services, saying that the state risks violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The suit seeks a preliminary injunction that would prevent the July 1 funding cutoff. A status conference in the case has been set for Friday.
A spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Social Services was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
