As reported in earlier Updates, Medicaid beneficiaries in Kentucky challenged the administration’s approval of the waiver application that would allow the state to establish work requirements for beneficiaries, among other things. A federal court invalidated approval of the waiver, sending it back to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for further review of its potential impact on coverage losses. Meanwhile, a lawsuit has been filed to challenge the previously-approved waiver allowing Arkansas to impose Medicaid work requirements. The state has already implemented its program, and many beneficiaries have been unable to demonstrate compliance with the work requirements, in part due to the fact that it must be done online. Therefore, some beneficiaries will lose benefits in September unless the court intervenes. See Lawsuit Challenges Arkansas’s Medicaid Work Requirement (Say Ahhh!, blog of the Georgetown Center on Children and Families, 8/15/18); Summary of Lawsuit Filed Against HHS Approval of “Arkansas Works” Amendment (National Health Law Program, 8/14/18).
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