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Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin (R-Ky.) Tries to add work requirements to the state's Medicaid program. A judge blocked this request.
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Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin (R-Ky.) Tries to add work requirements to the state's Medicaid program. A judge blocked this request.
Scott Olson / Getty Images
A federal judge blocked working conditions for Medicaid patients in Kentucky just days before the new rules were imposed by the administration of Governor Matt Bevin.
In Friday's decision, James Boasberg He wrote that in approving Kentucky's job requirements proposal, Health and Social Services Secretary Alex Azar "has never adequately considered whether Kentucky HEALTH would actually help the state to provide medical assistance to its citizens, a central goal of Medicaid. "
The judge pointed out that Azar did not mention that 95 000 people could lose coverage under the plan – an oversight that he called "blatant".
Health policy experts praised the decision they described as "scathing" and "savage."
"The court made the right decision," says Elizabeth Lower-Basch, Director of Income and Assistants at the Center for Law and Social Policy. "He found that HHS did not even consider the fundamental question of whether the waiver would undermine Medicaid's primary purpose of providing health coverage, and it forbids Kentucky from applying it." until HHS makes such an evaluation. "
Gov. Bevin filed a counter-suit in February and threatened to dismantle the Medicaid expansion in Kentucky if the courts did not allow him to add the work requirement.
HHS approved Governor Bevin's request to change the Medicaid program in Kentucky in January. Medicaid recipients who are "valid" need to find work, get professional training, or volunteer to qualify for medical benefits. Seema Verma, the administrator of Medicare Centers and Medicaid Services, said she would consider favorably such proposals
Verma said in a statement that she was disappointed by the decision. 19659008] "States are the laboratories of democracy and many administrations have turned to them to develop and test the reforms that have advanced the goals of the Medicaid program. The Trump administration is no different. "
She said that the agency is talking with The Justice Ministry must decide if there is any need to appeal.
Under Bevin's predecessor, Governor Steven Beshear, the state had extended Medicaid's eligibility to more than 500,000 low-income residents. The Affordable Care Act allowed states to extend Medicaid benefits – reserved for the disabled and parents of young children – to low-income adults without children.
Verma and Azar have argued that Medicaid recipients would benefit from being called "community engagement requirements" because finding work will help them out of poverty and thus improve their health.
But the judge did not buy this argument.
Instead, he writes, "While the plaintiffs and their amici claim that these proclaimed health benefits are not supported by substantial evidence, the Court need not enter in this thicket.The secretary's analysis, instead, fails for a more fundamental reason, it's a bit more than a sleight of hand, "writes Judge
" The message here is anyone who wants to add work demands. ", Says Rodney Whitlock, health policy analyst at Mintz Levin, a law firm specializing in health care regulation.
HHS approved the requirements According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, seven other states have applications pending approval by the agency
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