OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A Thurston County jury has awarded $57 million to thousands of home health care workers who saw their pay cut under a state rule that was in effect from 2003 to 2007.
In 2003, the Department of Social and Health Services decided to cut payments by 15 percent to Medicaid beneficiaries who had caregivers living in their home. The state argued that taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay in-home caregivers for tasks they would perform on their own — such as grocery shopping, laundry or meal preparation.
But the state Supreme Court struck down the rule in 2007, saying that under federal law all Medicaid beneficiaries had to be treated equally.
A class-action lawsuit was filed that year on behalf of 22,000 home health workers, and on Monday a jury determined the damages they were due totaled $57 million. The state is considering whether to appeal.
