Medicaid

The Idaho legislature is mulling proposals to add work requirements and other restrictions to the state’s Medicaid expansion plan that was approved by voters in November and has yet to take effect.

Medicaid work requirements will increase uncompensated-care costs, hurt hospitals’ operating margins and disproportionately harm rural hospitals, according to a Commonwealth Fund study.

The number of Arkansas Medicaid beneficiaries who are out of compliance with the state's work requirement continues to grow, according to data released by the state Friday (March 15).

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) asked HHS Secretary Alex Azar to inform the Senate Finance Committee about any talks CMS is having with states on running their Medicaid programs through block grants, and the answer he got was no.

A federal judge said he hopes to rule on the legality of Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas and Kentucky by the end of the month, unveiling his plan to decide quickly at the conclusion of back-to-back court hearings Thursday (March 14) that tested the reasoning behind one of the Trump administration’s most controversial health care priorities.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar told Senate Finance Committee members Thursday (March 14) that the more than 18,000 Arkansas residents who lost Medicaid coverage after work requirements took effect is a normal level of churn.

Lawyers for Medicaid beneficiaries and the federal government will square off Thursday (March 14) for round two of the high-profile litigation over the legality of Medicaid work requirements—and the arguments they make likely will sound familiar.

The Trump administration is doubling down on some of its most controversial Medicaid policies by proposing in its 2020 budget to impose mandatory work requirements, make it easier for states to eliminate non-emergency medical transportation, and allow higher copayments when beneficiaries seek non-emergency care at the emergency room.

President Donald Trump’s 2020 budget, released Monday (March 11), would cut $1.5 trillion from Medicaid over the next decade by proposing mandatory work requirements nationwide, repealing Medicaid expansion and proposing block grants or per-capita caps for states.