Federal Court Blocks Trump's Approval of Kentucky’s Medicaid Work Requirements
The federal judiciary hasn't been totally subsumed by Trumpism yet. In a big blow to both Trump and Kentucky Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, a federal court has blocked the state from implementing work requirements for Medicaid, as approved by the Trump administration.
A federal judge blocked Kentucky's Medicaid work requirements on Friday, ruling that the Trump administration did not adequately consider before approving the state's proposal whether work requirements would violate the program’s purpose of providing health care to the most vulnerable Americans. […]The federal government is obligated under federal law to consider whether a Medicaid proposal advances the program's objectives, the judge wrote, and the Trump administration failed to meet that standard before approving Kentucky’s plan.
"The Secretary never adequately considered whether Kentucky HEALTH would in fact help the state furnish medical assistance to its citizens, a central objective of Medicaid," Boasberg said in his decision. "This signal omission renders his determination arbitrary and capricious."
This throws into question the status of the approval the Trump administration has granted in four other states—Indiana, Arkansas, and New Hampshire. Another seven—Arizona, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio, Utah, and Wisconsin—have applications at HHS to impost the requirements.
Kentucky is sure to appeal, however, and Bevin has vowed to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary (yeah, there we go again) and has also signed an executive order that says that he will end Medicaid expansion entirely in the state if the courts eventually invalidate his work requirement waiver.The
