The day in court for adult day health care will have to wait.
A U.S. District Court judge on Friday approved a request by the California Department of Health Care Services to put off the hearing that challenges the department’s elimination of the ADHC program.
The hearing on a suit by Disability Rights California was set for tomorrow. ADHC centers across the state were watching that date to gauge whether or not they’ll be able to remain open much longer. The new hearing is scheduled for Nov. 1, 30 days before the state’s scheduled elimination of the program at roughly 300 ADHC centers across California.
“The court moved the date for the hearing to Nov. 1. We’ll present our case then,” Norman Williams in the DHCS office of public affairs said. “We’re pleased the court changed the date.”
Two days prior to Friday’s court date, the Department of Health Care Services asked CMS if the original elimination date of Sept. 1 could be extended three months, to Dec. 1. CMS approved postponement the day before the court action.
That move was one reason the judge granted the department’s request to put off the court hearing — since the urgency of imminent elimination was removed, the case could be moved, as well.
Also on Friday, three ADHC centers in Southern California announced they were shutting down. Those centers served roughly 375 seniors and the disabled, according to ADHC advocates.
That brings the number of ADHC center closures to 13 since March, when the DHCS first began its countdown toward elimination.
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