Nursing-home lawsuit moved to Columbus

The suit belongs in Columbus, where Medicaid decisions are made, a judge rules.

staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — A lawsuit by a coalition of Mahoning Valley nursing homes that seeks to reverse the state’s proposed new Medicaid reimbursement formula is being transferred from here to a Columbus court.

Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court ordered Tuesday that the case be transferred to Franklin County Common Pleas Court because Ohio’s Medicaid reimbursement decisions are made in Columbus, where that court is located.

The coalition, which calls itself the Senior Rights Advocacy Group of Northeast Ohio, sued the Columbus-based Ohio Department of Job and Family Services on Feb. 23, seeking to block a proposed July 1 rule change the coalition said could cause Mahoning Valley nursing homes to lose more than $20 million a year.

JFS is the state agency that administers Medicaid, which is a joint federal and state program.

The coalition said the proposal would place Mahoning and Trumbull county nursing homes in a rural group that would be reimbursed up to $40 per patient per day less than facilities in the Cincinnati area, which are in the top reimbursement tier.

The proposal could result in the closing of some Mahoning Valley nursing homes, which would reduce local bed availability and jeopardize up to 6,000 jobs, Bonnie Deutsch Burdman, a coalition spokeswoman, said when the suit was filed.

The coalition includes Windsor House, EDM Management, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Retirement Services, the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, Prasant Group, Beeghly Oaks and Pembrooke Place.