Judge strikes down Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas, Kentucky

Trump and CMS Administrator Seema Verma
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Wednesday struck down programs in Arkansas and Kentucky requiring most Medicaid recipients to work at least 80 hours a month to receive health-care coverage. The Trump administration has approved Medicaid work requirements in eight states and is considering requests by seven more, and Boasberg's ruling potentially affects not just Arkansas and Kentucky but the broader Republican push to reshape the 50-year-old program and limit Medicaid expansion encouraged under the Affordable Care Act.

In his twin rulings, Boasberg blocked Kentucky from enacting its Medicaid work requirement for a second time and ordered a halt to Arkansas' program, saying the Health and Human Services Department's approval of the plan was "arbitrary and capricious" and failed to "consider adequately" whether the work requirement "would in fact help the state furnish medical assistance to its citizens, a central objective of Medicaid."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.