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Justice Department Secures Agreement with Alabama Medicaid to Remove Unlawful Sobriety Mandate for Health Care Access
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Note from Jules Levin: Just like other states over the recent past years that have been told to lift these illegal restrictions now Alabama too – this has occurred largely on a state by state basis taking law suits & public bad publicity dragging on for years that denied life-saving access to HCV medications that cure HCV, so state policies have had these undue restrictions preventing access to these HCV drugs for classes of people & one of these classes is people who use drugs, finally after years the Justice Department has stopped Alabama. Still other restrictions persist in many states despite that one by one over many years they do get stropped away by judicial intervention, But there remains NO federal program of full & unrestricted access & treatment for people with HCV, there remains no national HCV elimination program despite that for almost 10 years we have had a cure for HCV with safe, tolerable, now inexpensive HCV drugs, and despite the disgraceful inept authorities unable to realize that treatment & cure is less costly than the years of healthcare costs associated with having HCV, yes $15 to $43 billion can be saved over years by eliminating HCV, treating all.
The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement agreement with the state of Alabama's Medicaid Agency (Alabama Medicaid) under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure that Alabama Medicaid recipients with Hepatitis C (HCV) who also have a substance use disorder have equal access to medications to treat their hepatitis.
Alabama Medicaid previously maintained a longstanding sobriety restriction policy that denied coverage of HCV medication for any person with HCV who had consumed any alcohol or illicit drugs within the six months prior to starting treatment. The sobriety restriction policy also barred Medicaid payment for HCV medication if a person used alcohol or illicit drugs while using the medication.
The Justice Department had argued the sobriety policy was a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act by discriminating against people with substance disorders. Alabama denied the Justice Department's accusations, according to the settlement, but agreed it was best to resolve the dispute.
The Justice Department alleged that Alabama's restrictions violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to a Dec. 5 news release from the agency. The department said that direct-acting antiviral medications cure hepatitis C in more than 95 percent of cases. It said "abstaining from alcohol or illicit drugs is not medically required for this successful outcome."
"Alabama Medicaid's reversal of its longstanding sobriety restriction will finally allow Medicaid recipients with substance use disorders to have the same access as others to a cure for Hepatitis C," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "The Justice Department is committed to enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act to eliminate unnecessary barriers that stand in the way of equal access to health care."
"We appreciate Alabama Medicaid's willingness to work with the Department of Justice and our office to remove the sobriety restriction policy that prevented so many Alabamians with HCV, who also have substance use disorder, from receiving appropriate treatment," said U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama. "This settlement agreement delivers justice under the Americans with Disabilities Act and significantly advances public health in our state."
HCV can result in a range of serious health conditions, many of which affect the liver. These may include cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure and death. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, highly effective treatments called direct-acting antiviral medications (DAAs) cure HCV in more than 95% of cases. In addition, use of these medications can also stop the spread of HCV because treated individuals will not transmit HCV to others. Abstaining from alcohol or illicit drugs is not medically required for this successful outcome. Alabama Medicaid's sobriety restriction policy withheld a potentially life-saving service to individuals with HCV who also had (or who were regarded as having, and/or who had a record of) a substance use disorder.
Alabama Medicaid worked cooperatively to modify its policies to ensure that Medicaid recipients have access to DAA treatment for HCV without regard to an individual's substance use. Alabama Medicaid has withdrawn the sobriety restriction policy, and under today's settlement will not delay, deny or fail to pay for DAA treatment of HCV based on any Medicaid recipient's use of drugs or alcohol. Further, it will engage in a robust effort to notify Medicaid recipients and Medicaid providers of these changes, as well as promptly remedy any instances where the prior policy is applied.
For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt. For more information on the ADA, please call the department's toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TTY 833-610-1264) or visit www.ada.gov. ADA complaints may be filed online at www.ada.gov/complaint. Anyone in the Northern District of Alabama may also report civil rights violations directly to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Alabama at USAALN.CivilRights@usa.doj.gov or (205) 244-2001.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-secures-agreement-alabama-medicaid-remove-unlawful-sobriety-mandate-healt
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