Over the past three and a half years, Ohio’s county MRDD boards have operated under a cloud. The traditional and legally mandated role of these boards in overseeing Medicaid services provided to persons with mental retardation and developmental disabilities, and in ensuring the health, safety, and welfare of such individuals via local service contracts and individual plans of care, has been under attack by service providers and by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).

On November 14, 2006 , in a long-awaited and unanimous opinion, the Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals resoundingly rejected this attack. The Court rec­ognized and affirmed the role of county boards, including the boards’ use of service contracts. The Court rejected, in toto, the assertions of ODJFS and the Ohio Provider Resource Association (OPRA) that the role of the county boards in implementing Ohio’s Medicaid Waiver program violates federal Medicaid law.

In April 2007, the Ohio Supreme Court accepted jurisdiction over the private providers' appeal. The parties submitted their merit briefs, and the county MRDD boards also filed a motion to dismiss the appeal. In November 2007, just prior to the scheduled oral argument date, the Supreme Court granted the county MRDD boards' motion to dismiss the appeal. The decision of the Court of Appeals in favor of the interests of the county MRDD boards remains the only Ohio precedent addressing the important issues raised in the Thompson case.

The attorneys of Bricker & Eckler LLP successfully represented the county MRDD boards in this litigation.

Resources Available

Thompson Appeal Decided
November 2006 bulletin by Bricker & Eckler attorneys on the decision of the Franklin Court of Appeals upholding county MR/DD boards role in administering the Medicaid waiver program, including through the use of service contracts.

Briefs and Decisions in Thompson v. Hayes
A chronological compilation of the briefs and court orders filed in the Thompson case.