Medicaid

A court once again has ruled against Arkansas’s attempt to condition Medicaid benefits on work requirements.

Capped funding threatens to put all Medicaid enrollees in participating states at risk of losing access to needed care and services.

New Hampshire court found that work and community engagement requirements do not support the basic objective of the Medicaid program

Utah's waiver policies would likely result in the loss of Medicaid coverage for significant numbers of low-income Utahans who rely on the program for health care

Section 1115 of the Social Security Act allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to waive certain Medicaid requirements and approve state proposals for experimental projects in programs. The waivers, intended to promote innovation, are not new. Historically, states have used them to cover new populations or implement delivery system reforms like providing services to people through managed care. But recently waivers have attracted attention—including from the mainstream media— as states have started using them in radically different ways. A prominent example involves states using waivers to obtain federal permission to condition receipt of Medicaid on work and work-alternative requirements. The issue is the subject of ongoing litigation.

In spite of the recent legal setbacks experienced by Kentucky and Arkansas, other states continue to seek federal approval of waivers that include work and work alternative requirements for Medicaid recipients

In March, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia reaffirmed its prior holding that the federal government cannot approve changes to state Medicaid programs that are not consistent with the central objective of the Medicaid program

No one should have to go bankrupt when their spouses need Medicaid for home- and community-based services, such as help with eating, bathing or dressing. But unless Congress acts, people could lose this important protection

The future is unclear for a major federal demonstration program that was created to expand the range of long-term services and supports (LTSS) options available to individuals

Medicaid benefits many low-income Medicare beneficiaries, children, and people with disabilities, but new policies could cause beneficiaries to lose their coverage if they can't comply with the requirements