The nursing home industry is suing Pennsylvania, claiming Tuesday that the state illegally withheld more than $150 million that was intended to help long-term care facilities shoulder the financial burden of the coronavirus pandemic.

The lawsuit, filed in state court, contended the Department of Human Services is refusing to provide supplemental payments to nursing homes as required by law, depriving them of crucial funding to fight the pandemic.

“We didn’t want to file suit against the Wolf administration, but when they ignore the clear language of state law, and essentially steal more than $153 million from nursing homes battling a once-in-a-century pandemic, it’s time to stand up for what’s right,” said Adam Marles, president and CEO of LeadingAge PA, which represents hundreds of nonprofit nursing homes statewide.

Gov. Tom Wolf has “simply turned his back” on nursing home residents and staff, he said.

A Department of Human Services spokesperson said the agency was preparing a response.

The suit asked Commonwealth Court to order the state agency to release the funding. The plaintiffs are LeadingAge PA and two other trade groups representing a total of more than 900 long-term care facilities in Pennsylvania, including county-owned nursing homes.

The trade groups said they went to court after months of negotiations with the state went nowhere.

Long-term care facilities in Pennsylvania and nationwide have been hit especially hard by the pandemic. Across the state, about 40,000 residents of more than 1,300 nursing and personal care homes have contracted the virus to date. About 7,000 have died, representing more than 60% of the statewide toll, according to the Health Department.

Some Pennsylvania nursing homes have been accused of providing substandard care during the pandemic, with investigations into allegations of criminal neglect.

The legal dispute centers on federal coronavirus relief legislation that temporarily boosted funding for Medicaid, a joint federal and state health care program for poor and disabled people.

The new law should have generated an extra $153 million in Medicaid funds for Pennsylvania nursing homes, according to the plaintiffs, but the facilities have not received any additional money because the Department of Human Services diverted it to other programs.

The plaintiffs noted that state law requires long-term care facilities to pay an annual assessment that helps the state generate additional federal funding for the Medicaid program.