By Tanya Albert , AMNews staff. The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month said the government does not violate the separation of church and state by letting Christian Science nursing homes and other religious, nonmedical health care facilities receive Medicare and Medicaid money. The high court turned down an appeal without comment, thus allowing to stand a ruling from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that permits the payments. Medicaid figures were unavailable. Taxpayer dollars will go toward general supplies and care, such as bandages, bedpans, feeding and bathing.
Church members say the decision is a victory for patients' choice in health care.
Children's advocates say the decision means minors may not get the medical treatments they need to save their lives. The IMS, American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical organizations filed a brief in the case supporting Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty, the Iowa-based nonprofit children's advocacy group that filed the lawsuit . But beneficiaries in traditional long-term care settings aren't treated the same way, the group said. The organization won an early victory when a federal judge ruled in 1996 that the payments to the healing centers were unconstitutional. But in 1997, Congress changed the law so that individuals can receive government assistance for nonmedical care that they receive in facilities that administer only nonmedical services because of religious reasons.