A federal judge is ordering Illinois to provide in-home nursing care to more than 1,200 children with disabilities and severe medical conditions after a lawsuit alleging the state has failed to fulfill its Medicaid obligations.
The judge said the children affected by the lawsuit have all been approved by the state to receive in-home care and have not received the services they were promised.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras in Chicago does not resolve the lawsuit, which could play out over several months or longer. But his preliminary injunction requires the state to act now because the "plaintiffs have demonstrated a likelihood of success."
The plaintiffs' lawyers say the state plans to appeal the decision and ask that the order be stayed until the lawsuit is resolved.
