What the Federal Government Is Supposed to Do And What It Has Failed to Do in Connecticut’s Medicaid Crisis

Medicaid is a federal American benefit under Title XIX of the Social Security Act. The ADA and Olmstead decision are federal civil rights protections. The CHRO is supposed to be the state civil rights agency. Yet thousands of disabled Connecticut residents remain trapped on ABI and Autism Waiver waitlists for 5–10+ years while families endure exhaustion, financial ruin, isolation, and lost dignity. This crisis exists because the federal government has failed to do what federal law requires it to do. What the Federal Government Is Supposed to Do The federal government through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has clear, mandatory responsibilities when states administer federal Medicaid dollars: • CMS must approve every state Medicaid plan and waiver, enforce federal program integrity rules, verify that states correctly determine eligibility, prevent improper payments, and ensure timely access to Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). If a state’s eligibility error rate exceeds 3%, CMS is required to reduce federal matching payments. CMS can issue corrective action plans, defer federal reimbursements, or withhold funds for ongoing noncompliance. • HHS OIG must audit states for fraud, waste, and abuse, identify improper payments (including to ineligible or deceased recipients), and recommend full recovery of federal dollars plus systemic reforms. • DOJ must enforce Title II of the ADA and the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead decision, which prohibits unjustified segregation of people with disabilities. This includes investigating complaints about long HCBS waitlists that force people into institutions or isolation, issuing findings of violation, and pursuing settlements or litigation to force states to deliver community-based services. These are not optional suggestions. They are federal legal duties paid for by American taxpayers to protect eligible disabled citizens. What the Federal Government Has Failed to Do in Connecticut Despite repeated evidence of gross mismanagement by Connecticut’s Department of Social Services (DSS): • CMS conducted a detailed eligibility audit of Connecticut’s Medicaid and CHIP program and identified serious failures in income and resource verification, incorrect eligibility determinations, and improper payments including cases where high-income households continued receiving benefits. CMS issued recommendations, but no meaningful federal sanctions, fund withholding, or forced overhaul followed. • HHS OIG has documented nationwide improper payments and capitation errors to deceased enrollees, yet Connecticut’s documented waste of federal Medicaid dollars (including $9.6 million in unreported revenue losses and payments to ineligible recipients) has not triggered aggressive federal recovery actions or program-integrity takeovers. • DOJ has taken limited Olmstead actions in Connecticut in the past (such as a 2006 nursing-home case and a 2017 communication-access settlement), but it has taken no visible, systemic enforcement against the current multi-year ABI and Autism Waiver waitlists that constitute ongoing illegal segregation under the ADA and Olmstead. Federal complaints including those tied to David Medeiros’ whistleblower evidence have not produced corrective action that actually clears the backlogs or stops the waste. The result? Federal taxpayer dollars continue to flow into Connecticut while eligible disabled residents are left to suffer. The federal government has chosen oversight on paper instead of enforcement in practice. This is not “state-only” failure. It is federal failure to protect federal benefits and federal civil rights. You are not “too expensive.” You have not been forgotten by accident. The federal government that funds these programs has simply failed to hold Connecticut accountable. This ends when we expose it. Real Federal Solutions You Can Take Today Report Directly to the Federal HHS Office of Inspector General – Call 1-800-447-8477 or submit at oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud/. Report state mismanagement of federal Medicaid dollars causing ADA violations. File an Olmstead/ADA Complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice – Submit at ada.gov or call (800) 514-0301. Demand enforcement of your federal civil rights. Contact Federal CMS – Email Medicaid_Integrity_Program@cms.hhs.gov and request a full program-integrity review tied to ADA/Olmstead compliance. Contact Your U.S. Senators and Representative – Send them this Livewire post and your personal story. Demand congressional oversight and immediate federal enforcement. Preserve Every Record – Save every communication. These are the evidence that will drive federal investigations and accountability. Every step above goes straight to the federal agencies that are required but have failed to act. Livewire makes the entire process simple and public. Full evidence, CMS audit findings, OIG reports, CHRO case documents, and clear federal steps live at david-medeiros.com/livewire. This is your un-suppressible voice.