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 The lawsuit, filed against the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services in federal court in Washington on behalf of three Medicaid
recipients in the state, claims that the federal Medicaid law does
not allow the administration to approve work requirements.
The case, filed by lawyers at the National Health Law Program Legal
Aid of Arkansas and Southern Poverty Law Center, is similar to an
earlier challenge to a work requirement program in Kentucky, which a
judge has halted.
"This lawsuit has one goal, which is to undermine our efforts to
bring Arkansans back into the workforce, increase worker training,
and to offer improved economic prospects for those who desire to be
less dependent on the government," Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson
said in a statement.
He said it was necessary to have "an accountable system that does
not leave thousands of able-bodied recipients on the Medicaid
rolls."
HHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In June, Arkansas became the first U.S. state to require that many
able-bodied Medicaid recipients do some combination of work,
volunteer, job training or schooling for a minimum of 80 hours each
month to keep their benefits, a sweeping shift in healthcare rules.
Those who fail to meet the work requirements for any three months
will be locked out of health insurance for the remainder of the
year.
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Republican governors and lawmakers say work requirements are needed
to control Medicaid costs. In Arkansas, the requirements will apply
to people who became eligible for the program when it was expanded
under former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
During the first phase of Arkansas' program, able-bodied adults aged
30 to 49 who earn less than $680 a month will have to submit
documents each month showing they have worked or volunteered. State
officials have estimated that up to 30,000-40,000 people in the
first phase will have to find work to maintain their benefits. In
2019, the program will extend to adults aged 19 to 29.
Indiana and New Hampshire have also won approval for their own work
requirement programs, which have not yet taken effect. Another eight
states await approval from the Trump administration for similar work
requirements that will fundamentally reconfigure the 50-year-old
program.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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