Skip to content Skip to search

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/
Sign up for our newsletter

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • 1 in 4 parents report being fired for work interruptions due to child care breakdowns

        Chabeli Carrazana · February 2
      • Washington, D.C., offers financial relief to local child care workers

        Orion Rummler · September 20
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Can Cheri Beasley build a winning coalition in North Carolina?

        Candice Norwood · October 11
      • Los Angeles has never elected a woman mayor. Karen Bass hopes to change that.

        Nadra Nittle · September 8
      • Judge J. Michelle Childs is confirmed to D.C. appeals court

        Candice Norwood · July 20
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: What we know about Brittney Griner’s case and what it took to get her home

        Candice Norwood, Katherine Gilyard · December 8
      • The 19th Explains: Why the Respect for Marriage Act doesn’t codify same-sex marriage rights

        Kate Sosin · December 8
      • The 19th Explains: Why baby formula is still hard to find months after the shortage

        Mariel Padilla · December 1
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • From ballroom dancing to bloodshed, the older AAPI community grapples with gun control

        Nadra Nittle, Mariel Padilla · January 27
      • 'I'm planning on working until the day I die': Older women voters are worried about the future

        Mariel Padilla · June 3
      • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

        Jessica Kutz · May 31
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Connecticut voters approved early voting. Here’s how their new secretary of state wants to make it happen.

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 13
      • Women lawmakers in Minnesota are in the vanguard of the democracy movement

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 3
      • Election workers believe in our system — and want everyone else to, too

        Barbara Rodriguez, Jennifer Gerson · November 8

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • 19th Polling
    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Election 2022
    • Election 2024
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Military
    • Politics
    • Press Release
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th Represents Summit

Don’t miss our biggest event of 2023!

Register Today

Become a member

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Residents in wheelchairs take a break at a Colorado nursing home.
Residents take a break at a Colorado nursing home in March 2022. (Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty Images)

Justice

Supreme Court case altering Medicaid is ‘an assault’ on older adults and people with disabilities, advocates warn

Experts say the case could limit private citizens’ right to sue for recourse related to a host of government programs.   

Sara Luterman

Caregiving reporter

Sara Luterman, The 19th

Published

2022-11-10 16:32
4:32
November 10, 2022
pm

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week on a case disability, eldercare and health care advocates described as “an assault” on the rights of older adults, people with disabilities and their families. Advocates are so concerned over the potential impact of Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talevski that they’re still pressing both sides to withdraw or settle before a decision is rendered. 

The case could radically alter Medicaid and a host of other government programs by limiting private citizens’ right to sue when those programs aren’t fairly and safely administered.

The case centers on the late Gorgi Talevski. In 2019, his daughter Suzie Talevski filed a lawsuit against Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, alleging that her father had been abused in his Indiana nursing home run by the state-owned company and funded by Medicaid, which provides health care to over 76 million low-income Americans and is the primary funder of long-term care in the United States.  

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Among other issues,Talevski alleges that her father was overmedicated to the point of chemical restraint — a practice in which a person is sedated so that they are easier to manage, to the detriment of that person’s own health and well-being. 

The question before the Supreme Court was not whether Gorgi Talevski was abused, but whether he and his family had the right to sue the company to seek damages. 

  • More from The 19th
    Rear view of male caretaker with a disabled woman and dog taking a walk in a forest.
  • Medicaid program expands funding for seniors and people with disabilities, but its future remains uncertain
  • The Supreme Court’s multiracial women justices clap back at challenges to affirmative action in colleges

“There’s a lot at stake. Depending on how the court rules, if someone is abused in a nursing home and they are harmed, their families might not be able to sue the provider,” said Maria Town, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities. Her organization filed an amicus brief with other disability rights organizations. 

For months, national and local advocates have attempted to persuade the parties involved in Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talevski to withdraw the case or settle, respectively. 

“The fear is that the composition of the Supreme Court is such that they will decide in favor of [the nursing home industry]. But also that the decision could be very broad,” Town said. 

A broad decision could also impact a variety of programs beyond long-term care, according to Jasmine Harris, a professor at University of Pennsylvania’s Carey School of Law.

“Everything from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which was formerly known as food stamps” could be impacted, along with Medicaid and Medicare, Harris told The 19th. 

Madiba Dennie, a legal scholar with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, also expressed concern that the case may be an opportunity for “judges to close the doors of justice to ordinary people.” If the court were to limit the right of private citizens to sue government programs, then it would become much more difficult for regular people to protect themselves from harm incurred as a result of those programs. 

Town also expressed concern about the lack of recourse outside of the court system that disability advocates and advocates for older adults will have if the court rules in favor of Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County. 

“Our ability to shift policies is more restricted because it’s just harder to get stuff done in Congress. Things have become more polarized,” Town said. 

But during oral arguments on Tuesday, some of the court’s conservative justices — whom advocates are most concerned about — expressed skepticism for the arguments made by Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County. 

In particular, Justice Brett Kavanaugh pointed to the text of the statute under discussion, which discusses the legal rights afforded to nursing home patients. Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County argued that the statute in question, Section 1983, was not specific enough to allow for lawsuits. 

Section 1983 is part of the bedrock of civil rights law in the United States. It was originally passed as part of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, and gives private individuals the right to sue state government employees for civil rights violations. 

“It’s a very uncomfortable fact for you that the statute says ‘rights’ over and over again,” Kavanaugh said. 

More liberal justices were also critical in their questioning. 

Stories by experienced reporters you can trust and relate to.

Delivered directly to your inbox every weekday.

Please check your email to confirm your subscription!

Submitting…

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

“It seems to me odd to suggest that we as a court can reinterpret the word ‘law’ [in Section 1983] to carve anything out,” said Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. 

Advocates can and will continue to press both sides to withdraw the case from the Supreme Court. Until a final decision is issued, it is still possible to stop it from proceeding. 

Shira Walkshlag, senior director of Legal Advocacy for the Arc of the United States, told The 19th that she “doesn’t do predictions” and therefore the strategy will be to continue to apply pressure. The Arc is one of the largest disability organizations in the United States, and also submitted an amicus briefs. 

“Now we have to wait for the decision. But we will also continue to advocate against [Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County]’s assault on disability rights. The advocacy is to try to get [them] to withdraw the case,” she said. 

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

The 19th Represents Summit

Don’t miss our biggest event of 2023!

Register Today

Become a member

Up Next

Collage depicting a mother holding a baby, moving boxes, a moving truck on fire, a map of Pennsylvania and a suburban home.

Military

When the military orders families to move, spouses are left to ‘figure it out’

The secretary of defense announced new efforts to help military families shoulder the struggles that come with frequent moves.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Newsletter
  • Events
  • Search
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram