On March 27, a federal judge vacated, for the second time, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ approval of Kentucky’s Medicaid 1115 demonstration waiver to test, among other things, a work requirement as a condition of Medicaid eligibility. In a related case of Arkansas’ Medicaid work requirements demonstration, the judge likewise vacated the federal approval, remanding it to CMS for further consideration. Notably, because Arkansas, unlike Kentucky, had already implemented the work requirements, the decision requires the state to cease its work requirements and related Medicaid disenrollments.

In a new article for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s State Health and Value Strategies program, Manatt Health reviews the court’s decisions and their implications for Kentucky, Arkansas and other states with similar approved or pending waiver requests, as well as for states contemplating imposing work or other “community engagement” requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries.

Read the full article.

_{Support for this project was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.}