Georgia can’t deny kids Medicaid services, judge says

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 17, 2008

Child health advocates in Georgia hope a federal court decision will stop the state from denying medical services to children who receive Medicaid. The advocates say Georgia has a long history of reducing or denying care ordered by physicians and paid for through Medicaid. The decision by U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash pertains to the case of a 13-year-old developmentally disabled girl. Her doctor prescribed 94 hours of private duty nursing care a week for her, but the state Department of Community Health approved only 84 hours. The judge found the state does not have the discretion to deny funding for services prescribed by a treating physician.