The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 7-2 to protect the right of Medicaid nursing home residents to seek relief in federal court when state officials do not meet a certain quality of care — a ruling policy watchers are hailing as a civil rights victory for Medicaid patients.
In the case, Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talevski, nursing home patient Gorgi Talevski’s wife, Ivanka, accused the Indiana health system of violating a 1987 federal law governing nursing homes that receive federal funding. The law includes a provision that prohibits nursing homes from using psychotropic drugs for nonmedical reasons.
Gorgi Talevski moved to a nursing home in 2016, and in 2019 his wife, Ivanka Talevski, filed a lawsuit alleging he was inappropriately subjected to psychotropic drugs and involuntary transfers in violation of the federal nursing home law. Gorgi Talevski died in 2021.
