Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Medicaid Work Requirements in Arkansas
In another setback for the Trump administration’s plan for the Medicaid program, a federal appeals court ruledlast week that Arkansas cannot impose onerous work and reporting requirements on Medicaid recipients as a condition of receiving coverage. In its decision, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the administration’s claim that work requirements promote a primary objective of Medicaid.
The state’s plan has been on hold since March 2019, when a federal court in Washington, D.C. found the administration’s approval of Arkansas’ waiver to be “arbitrary and capricious.” Federal law allows states a great deal of administrative flexibility to try “experimental, pilot, or demonstration” projects that are likely to promote Medicaid’s primary objective. Though the administration deemed Arkansas’ project to be in compliance with these guidelines, both courts disagreed, finding that “the principal objective of Medicaid is providing health care coverage,” and work requirements do not promote this goal. The courts agreed that the administration should have considered the demonstration’s impact on access to Medicaid but failed to do so. In the project’s first six months, over 18,000 Arkansans were kicked off the state’s Medicaid rolls.
Federal officials have not yet said whether they will appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
In a statement, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal agency which oversees Medicaid, said it “is reviewing and evaluating the opinion and determining next steps. CMS remains steadfast in our commitment to considering proposals that would allow states to leverage innovative ideas.”
https://blog.medicarerights.org/federal-appeals-court-rules-against-medicaid-work-requirements-in-arkansas/?utm_source=Medicare+Rights+Center&utm_campaign=341a5f36ab-Medicare_Watch_2_20_2020&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1c591fe07f-341a5f36ab-84687761&mc_cid=341a5f36ab&mc_eid=d40db0d575
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