- Senate Dems Question Legality of Trump Work Requirements Associated Press by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar — The Trump administration's new policy allowing state work requirements for Medicaid recipients is legally questionable, more than two dozen Democratic senators said Thursday, framing an argument likely to be aired in court. The senators' letter to acting health secretary Eric Hargan reads like a memo to legal groups preparing a court challenge on behalf of low-income Medicaid beneficiaries. Last week the administration unveiled its policy letting states to impose Medicaid work requirements, and promptly approved a waiver request by Kentucky to carry out its version.…"Harmful ideological policies such as work requirements, mandatory drug testing, time limits, onerous cost-sharing and the like undercut and exceed the statutory authority provided" for the Department of Health and Human Services to grant Medicaid waivers, the letter said. Such proposals "clearly undermine the purpose of the Medicaid Act, prioritizing ideology over health," the letter concluded, asking the Trump administration to reconsider its policy.
- Kentucky Governor Threatens to End Medicaid Expansion The Hill by Nathaniel Weixel — An executive order issued by Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) would end the state's Medicaid expansion if any part of the state's newly-approved Medicaid overhaul is struck down by a court. If the expansion were to end, nearly 500,000 people would lose Medicaid coverage. The waiver, which was approved on Friday, will allow Kentucky to impose strict work requirements on some Medicaid beneficiaries, as well charge monthly premiums and lock beneficiaries out of coverage if they don't pay. Bevin's executive order would instruct the secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Medicaid commissioner to "take necessary steps to terminate Kentucky's Medicaid expansion" if any part of his plan is struck down in court.
- The Nation's First Medicaid Work Rules Loom, and Many Fear Losing Health Coverage Washington Post by Amy Goldstein — Gov. Matt Bevin is exultant as his administration sets out to transform Medicaid. Only a week ago, he won federal permission to pursue a goal that has animated his two years in office: making hundreds of thousands of poor Kentuckians hold jobs or engage in their communities in other ways to keep their health insurance. It is an approach never tried by any state, and it will also transform lives. Meanwhile, consumer health advocates in Kentucky and Washington are finalizing a lawsuit to try to block the state, contending that its action undermines Medicaid's purposes and is illegal. In the middle are an estimated 394,000 Kentuckians. That is state officials' most recent snapshot of how many of 1.4 million Medicaid recipients are able-bodied people ages 19 to 64 who will not be exempt because of circumstances such as pregnancy, schooling, medical frailty or disability. Officials expect that perhaps 264,000 will not be in compliance when the rules begin between July and November.