The goal was not to bar access. Health workers and the public came and went without incident - but not without an earful about a state Medicaid policy that requires mentally disabled Utahns to spend at least 90 days in a nursing home before they can qualify for government-paid care in the home.

Demonstrators say the policy is a waste of money and strips mentally disabled Utahns of their independence.

"Our goal here today is two-fold," said protester Barbara Toomer, who is also an organizer of the Disabled Rights Action Committee (DRAC). "We want state policies changed and we want a waiver for Renee," Toomer said.

Renee Baturin is a 45-year-old woman with cerebral palsy - and a number of other ailments that restrict her movement to a wheelchair - who recently moved to Utah from New York. Baturin claims she was verbally promised access to the health care services she needed but says no one told her she would need to spend 90 days in a nursing home in order to qualify for them, Toomer said.

The waiver they seek would allow her access to state funds without spending the 90 days in state care.

So, the DRAC is threatening to sue the state on behalf of Baturin, who agreed to enter a nursing home so that she might be approved for money to hire an attendant to help her do some of the things she can't do herself.

Protesters, many of whom were in wheelchairs, likened the admission to imprisonment. Angry, vocal and fearless they pounded water bottles on the glass doors and chanted for a waiver that would grant Renee her funding, and ultimately her freedom.

But picketing and threatening legal action may backfire against advocates in the form of less funding for disabled services.

State Medicaid Director Michael Hales said the 90-day rule was adopted as "a creative solution to try and fast-track people" off a 4,000-person state waiting list for disabled services. Utah's Republican-led Legislature has been loathe to fully fund the waiting list, causing some people to wait as long as 12 years for help.

But under federal Medicaid rules, states must pay for institutional, or nursing home, care.

So by spending time at a nursing home, someone like Baturin can tap into Medicaid dollars to which she wouldn't otherwise be entitled. Under a Medicaid waiver, Utah then allows that money to follow her and pay for in-home services.

"We've been very progressive that way," said Hales.

kstewart@sltrib.com

mwestley@sltrib.com