JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - An appeals court has ruled that a previous calculation of damages owed to about 3,000 blind Missouri residents who receive state benefits was too low, meaning the state could be on the hook for more than $19 million.
The ruling Tuesday by the Missouri Court of Appeals' western division relates to a 2006 lawsuit by the Missouri Council of the Blind, who claimed that the state had been miscalculating the monthly pension for blind people since the early 1990s. The council's executive director has said the problem was addressed, but the group has been battling the state over damages.
Those damages now stand at about $19 million, up from a previous court's determination of less than $200,000, John Ammann, an attorney representing the blind, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1MRLuDR).
Messages left Wednesday with the offices of Gov. Jay Nixon and Attorney General Chris Koster were not immediately returned.
If the state declines to appeal, Missouri will have to find the $19 million to pay out the affected recipients, perhaps either by adding that money into the fiscal year 2017 budget, which begins July 1, or paying it out through a supplement in the current year's budget, which ends June 30.
To qualify for pensions, people must be totally blind, not just legally blind, and at least 18 years old. The pension recipient and spouse can accumulate no more than $20,000 in savings or property, not counting their home.
Eligible individuals received up to $718 a month, along with state-funded health care coverage through Missouri's Blind Healthcare Program.