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Will FQHCs Get Lower Adult Health Rate?

A federal judge last week heard arguments for and against issuing a temporary restraining order against the state’s plan to reduce payments for adult day health services. The California Primary Care Association filed suit on behalf of federally qualified health centers.

U.S. District Court judge James Ware heard the case last week. He has 30 days to issue a ruling.

In a similar case last month filed by the Adult Day Health Care Association, a federal judge declined to issue a preliminary injunction against the state and upheld the Department of Health Care Services’ plan to set new rates for day service providers in the recently launched Community Based Adult Services program.

The new CBAS program was created as part of a December settlement of a lawsuit by Disability Rights California, which challenged the state’s plans in the wake of eliminating the state Adult Day Health Care program as a Medi-Cal benefit.

In the Adult Day Health Care Association ruling last month, the judge said that, since the DRC lawsuit was settled in December in favor of beneficiaries, newer lawsuits cannot claim harm for that same group, according to Sean South, associate director of communications for CPCA.

“We made our case,” South said, “and now we’ll just have to see.”

Meanwhile, the Adult Day Health Care Association is deciding this week whether or not to appeal the Apr. 13 decision.

According to Berdj Karapetian, president of ADHCA, the association will meet with the legal team today to decide if it will appeal. ADHCA has until Friday to appeal that decision.

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