Disabled
college student's future depends on ruling
The Associated Press
February 08. 2003 11:42AM
Nick Dupree is a quadriplegic who depends on a ventilator for life and Medicaid
regulations for his future care. He's approaching a medical crisis.
His work on a degree at Spring Hill College and hopes of becoming a writer
could vanish Feb. 23. That's when Dupree turns 21. By then, if the state
doesn't modify its Medicaid regulations that now permit in-home nursing care
benefits, Dupree could be forced into a nursing facility, possibly in another
state.
Dupree said he feels "nervous, worried, upset" about the approaching
deadline.
He has a rare form of muscular dystrophy and requires full-time care.
A court hearing on Dupree's plight is set for 1 p.m. Tuesday in Montgomery
before U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller. At issue is a motion that seeks to
prevent the Alabama Medicaid Agency from cutting off his 16-hours-a-day home
nursing care, pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed for him.
Dr. Lawrence Sindel, Dupree's physician, said Dupree would be at serious risk
of injury or death if placed in a nursing facility, the suit says. And if the
ventilator malfunctions or is unattended, he will die.
Dupree's 18-year-old brother, Jamie, also requires in-home care. Also a student
at Spring Hill, he has the same form of muscular dystrophy as Nick and is a
quadriplegic on a ventilator.
Alabama's Medicaid program also pays for a nurse to accompany each of them to
classes. But Medicaid discontinues this aid when they become 21.
After Nick's next birthday, Medicaid will pay for his care only in a nursing
home. He also faces the loss of critical prescribed medical equipment.
Dupree is a junior at Spring Hill,a part-time student who has a 3.54 grade
point average. His brother is a full-time student and regularly makes the
Dean's List at the college. He is a sophomore.
The two live with their single mother, Ruth Belasco, who is a professor of fine
arts at the private Roman Catholic college.
Belasco said she pays $364 a week for additional nursing help beyond the care
paid for by Medicaid. She also spends many hours helping to care for the boys
and maintaining their ventilators.
Last winter, then-state Sen. George Callahan, R-Mobile, introduced legislation
to make Medicaid continue in-home nursing services to people who qualified for
such care before turning 21.
Callahan, who loss his re-election bid in November, said the bill died because
of pressure brought by representatives of the Alabama Medicaid Agency.
A spokeswoman for the agency said the bill would have discriminated against
people who didn't need such care until after age 21.
Medicaid policy adviser Mary Finch said last year that Alabama could face costs
of $27 million to $78 million if the state created an in-home nursing benefit
for adults.
The motion for a preliminary in junction, filed with a lawsuit recently by
Montgomery lawyer Larry Menefee, names as defendants Gov. Bob Riley and state
Medicaid Commissioner Mike Lewis.
They are being sued in their official state capacities. Repeated attempts by
the Mobile Register to reach Lewis about the case were unsuccessful.
"This is the nearest thing to the death penalty I've encountered in civil
litigation," Menefee told the newspaper. "It's a tragic
situation."
On the Net:
www.Nickscrusade.com