Settlement for Nursing Home Patients

Access Living filed a class-action discrimination lawsuit on behalf of almost 20,000 people with physical disabilities or mental illness living in Cook County nursing homes against the state of Illinois. The suit addressed the state’s practice of forcing Medicaid-eligible people with disabilities to live in nursing homes.

A settlement of the case was announced last month, and now Medicaid-eligible people with disabilities living in Cook County will have the option of living and receiving support services at home. Attorneys expect counties nationwide will soon follow suit.

Marca Bristo, president and CEO of Access Living, said, “This is a historic day for people with disabilities, not just for Illinois, but around the country. To our community, it’s the Brown v. Board of Education or the Roe v. Wade.”

See Jamie Sotonoff, “Historic” settlement for nursing home patients, Daily Herald, Aug. 30, 2011.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (WealthCounsel) for bringing this article to my attention.