Groups file suit to block Kentucky’s Medicaid work-requirement waiver
Advocacy groups representing Kentucky Medicaid beneficiaries sued the federal government last week to block the state from implementing its Medicaid waiver program that includes a work requirement.
The controversial class-action complaint alleges the changes, which include premiums and cost-sharing, will lead to substantial reductions in Medicaid coverage.
The CMS approved Kentucky’s Medicaid waiver application this month.
The work requirement means non-disabled beneficiaries will have to complete 80 hours per month of community engagement activities, which include employment, education, job skills training or community service to maintain their Medicaid eligibility.
More than 1 million Kentucky residents are on Medicaid and 15 were named plaintiffs in the suit.
Nine other Republican-led states are seeking to require some residents to participate in work, education or volunteer activities to receive and keep their Medicaid benefits.
The CMS is expected to approve a similar proposal from Indiana soon.
Republican Gov. Matt Bevin has threatened to end Kentucky’s Medicaid expansion, which covers more than 400,000 low-income adults, if waiver opponents sued to halt the waiver program.
Bevin’s office called the lawsuit baseless.
The governor has argued that people who receive public health benefits should be required to work, and that it will be better for their health.
The Medicaid beneficiaries’ lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration’s approval of the Kentucky waiver violates the HHS secretary’s authority because the waiver provisions are not consistent with the objective of the Medicaid statute, which is to furnish health coverage.