NDRN - Press Release Archive

Recent Developments in Ekloff v. Rodgers Federal Class Action Lawsuit:
AHCCCS Appeals to the Ninth Circuit and Files Motion for Stay
Motion for Stay to be heard April 14

Media Contacts:
Peri Jude Radecic, Director of Public Advocacy
Arizona Center for Disability Law
(520) 327-9547, extension 23
Cell: (623) 308-5111

TUCSON--On Friday, March 3, 2006, U.S. District Court Judge Raner Collins ruled, in the case of Ekloff v. Rodgers, that the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) is required by federal Medicaid law to supply preventive incontinence briefs to children with disabilities to “correct or ameliorate (at least in part) the children’s condition.” The statewide class action lawsuit, filed by the Arizona Center for Disability Law (Center), sought to change Arizona’s Medicaid policy which only permitted coverage for incontinence briefs for children with disabilities when a child had experienced skin breakdown, sores or infection, but not to prevent disease or injury. Plaintiffs in this case are children with disabilities who are recipients of state Medicaid services and need incontinence briefs because of their disabilities. The class action lawsuit was filed in June 2005.

In his opinion, Judge Collins ruled that:

Since March 3, AHCCCS has filed a Motion for Stay pending appeal asking that Judge Collins’s Order in Ekloff not be enforced while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit considers whether to uphold or reverse Judge Collins’s Order. A hearing on the Motion for Stay will be held on Friday, April 14 in federal District Court in Tucson.

Parents Encouraged to Seek Incontinence Briefs Under Federal Court Order

“The Center has met with AHCCCS to discuss implementation of the Court’s Order,” said Robin Murphy, Managing Attorney at the Center. “AHCCCS has advised its health plans that they should be filling prescriptions for briefs prescribed for preventive purposes. Although we understand that some parents have encountered difficulties in getting briefs from their health plans, we have been assured by AHCCCS that they are working out these implementation problems. In addition, AHCCCS is developing a policy which parents can follow to request reimbursement under the Court’s Order.”

The Center suggests that parents obtain a prescription from their child’s primary health care provider and seek to fill that prescription through the child’s managed care organization. Any parent with a child with a disability who encounters difficulty in obtaining medically necessary incontinence briefs should call the Center at (602) 274-6287 or toll-free at 1-800-927-2260.

Ekloff v. Rodgers is a continuation of the Center’s work to ensure that people with disabilities have the health care services they need. The Center’s Health Care Services Team handles issues ranging from the denial of assistive technology such as an electric wheelchair to another class action lawsuit against AHCCCS, Ball v. Rodgers, which was filed to remedy on-going problems with the provision of adequate in home personal care attendant services for individuals enrolled in Arizona’s Long Term Care Program.

Robin Murphy, Sally Hart and Jennifer L. Nye are the Center’s lead attorneys on this case.

The Arizona Center for Disability Law is a not for profit public interest law firm, dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals with a wide range of physical, mental, psychiatric, sensory and cognitive disabilities. The Arizona Center for Disability Law is authorized under various federal statutes to ensure the protection and advocacy of all individuals with disabilities in the state.