A state contractor that coordinates home healthcare visits under Connecticut’s Medicaid program repeatedly has accommodated “discriminatory requests by Medicaid home health care recipients not to send staff of particular races and/or national origins,” according to a federal lawsuit.
Advanced Behavioral Health of Middletown allegedly forwarded the discriminatory requests in emailed referrals to a subcontractor, the Center for Transitional Living, which supplies aides for visits to clients’ homes. When the minority-owned CTL did not honor the requests, ABH refused to refer some prospective clients to CTL, according to an attorney for CTL.
Among the lawsuit’s allegations:
- ABH specified in an emailed referral to CTL that its client required “Caucasian staff” to assist with cleaning, household chores and transportation.
- ABH referred a client to CTL and specified that the client “will not work with any staff that have strong accents, cannot speak English or are African-American.”
- ABH sent two referrals to CTL and specified that one client was “seeking a Caucasian female” and the second client required a female staff member with “no accent.”
In addition to ABH, named as defendants are the state Department of Social Services and the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
