The Southern Poverty Law Center has just filed a class-action lawsuit against the state of Tennessee claiming damages for several Tennessee residents who are suffering health problems because of the refusal of Tennessee politicians to properly implement Medicaid.
From the SPLC news release:
According to the lawsuit, the state has violated federal law by discontinuing in-person help for applicants to its Medicaid program, TennCare. Instead, Tennessee forces applicants to apply for TennCare through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace website, which was not designed for this purpose, causing some residents – including those with serious medical conditions – to go needlessly without health care. To make matters worse, the state has stopped accepting TennCare applications in person.
Several people are listed as complainants in the case including an infant:
One plaintiff in the lawsuit is a baby identified as “S.G.,” who was born two months premature. He was born into CoverKids coverage, but Tennessee revoked it the moment he left the hospital. S.G. has not had coverage since leaving the hospital.
As a premature child, S.G. is at high risk of contracting the potentially fatal respiratory and airway virus RSV. He requires monthly shots – at $3,000 each – to prevent this illness. His parents can’t afford the treatment.
The specific complaint can be found
here
9:33 PM PT: I should have added this in my original diary. In case you are not familiar with SPLC, they work to protect oppressed minorities and victims of discrimination. They provide information on hate groups to law enforcement agencies. They publish literature on tolerance and supply it free to schools. Their legal actions have a remarkable success rate - I would hate to be on the wrong side of an SPLC lawsuit. They take almost all their cases pro bono, so they rely on donations almost exclusively. Please see their home page at http://www.splcenter.org/ for more information.
11:52 PM PT: Headline corrected for accuracy - thanks to Cardinal Fang for correction.