Mooseheart asks state high court to review case

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

SPRINGFIELD – Mooseheart is asking the state’s high court to review a case involving reimbursement from the state for medical expenses of its students.

Mooseheart Child City and School earlier this month filed its request to the Illinois Supreme Court, asking it to review a First District Appellate Court decision that said the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services does not have to reimburse medical costs incurred before Mooseheart children were approved for a state public aid program.

In the case, Mooseheart and one female student sued IDHFS and its director Barry Maram in Cook County Circuit Court.

The parties were at odds for years over medical benefits of Mooseheart children. Specifically, whether the children and the school should receive retroactive pay for medical expenses incurred while the two parties went back and forth over whether Mooseheart children were eligible for All Kids and Kid Care benefits. The programs are a form of state public aid for children.

IDHFS officials declined comment Tuesday. Mooseheart officials and attorneys also declined comment.

In April 2002, Mooseheart first applied for medical coverage under KidCare on behalf of Mooseheart children. The state denied coverage on the basis that Mooseheart was not the child’s “caretaker relative,” or that the child’s guardian was not an Illinois resident, according to court records.

Mooseheart, located near Batavia, is a boarding school for children who either do not have parents, or whose parents cannot care for them.

Between March 2004 and September 2005, Mooseheart submitted additional applications, with the Mooseheart children signing the documents themselves.

In October 2005, the department told Mooseheart the applications were not vaild because they were not signed by legal guardians, even though Mooseheart submitted Powers of Attorney so they could sign on behalf of guardians, records state.

Eventually, in June 2006, the department determined Mooseheart children qualify for benefits and told Mooseheart officials to reapply for coverage at that time.

The following year, Mooseheart asked for reimbursement of medical costs, dating back to the time when students first applied for the state programs. But the state agreed to reimburse just for expenses incurred three months prior to the most recent application, records state.

When the case went to Cook County court, a July 2008 ruling favored the state and Maram, denying retroactive reimbursement to Mooseheart. The Appellate Court reaffirmed that decision.

In Mooseheart’s plea to the high court, it states the case should be heard “to provide much needed clarity regarding the rights of children under KidCare and All Kids” and to provide retroactive pay.