Days after U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks ruled that Florida must put a stop to housing children with complex medical needs in nursing homes, the state has launched an appeal, WLRN reported July 19.
While documents filed by the state's attorneys did not detail their rebuttal argument for the appeal, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration shared a statement with the outlet that "the court’s conclusion that the state’s actions or omissions force children to live in nursing homes against their parent’s wishes is unsupported and refuted by the evidence presented at trial."
In his initial ruling, Mr. Middlebrooks wrote that health officials were responsible for "violating the rights of children with medical complexity who rely upon the provision of vital Medicaid services and are trying, in vain, to avoid growing up in nursing homes" and mandated that in addition to improving care coordination throughout the state, that the Medicaid program also allocate 90 percent "of the private-duty nursing hours that are authorized for the children," WLRN reported.
The matter has been ongoing in the state since 2013.