U. S. appeals court strikes down anti-Olmstead ruling
DENVER, July 20, 2003 -- When Oklahoma last fall notified people in its Medicaid "Advantage" home and community-based services waiver program that it would only pay for five prescriptions a month -- whereas Medicaid recipients in nursing homes could have unlimited prescriptions filled -- Katherine Fisher, Earlee Heath, and Karol Loy sued the Oklahoma Health Care Agency, which runs the program. The women said they would be forced into nursing homes to get their medicines. They said the plan violated the Americans with Disabilities Act's "integration mandate," upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 1999 Olmstead decision.