The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services cancelled Arizona and Indiana Medicaid insurance work requirements and cancelled approvals obtained during the Trump administration.
In March, the Biden government began to withdraw the approval process for the Medicaid work trial, which requires certain beneficiaries to participate in community participation activities, such as employment, education, or job skills training, in order to continue to receive insurance.
Since then, CMS has notified Arkansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin that it is withdrawing work requirement waivers in these states. Caesars Family Foundation’s Medicaid Waiver Tracker.
right now, Arizona with Indiana Has been added to the list, CMS administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure wrote to the two states, “Require community participation as a condition of continuing eligibility [is] It is unlikely to promote the goals of the Medicaid regulations. “
The Arizona requirement was approved in January 2019, and Indiana started implementing its version in the same month, but neither state has implemented it at the moment-mainly due to Litigation against demand And the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic.
CMS listed the pandemic as the main reason for the removal of Medicaid work requirements in its February 12 letter to all states that have been granted exemptions.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the health of Medicaid beneficiaries,” Brooks-Rasul wrote in these letters. “The uncertainty of the consequences of the current crisis and the pandemic, as well as the potential impact on economic opportunities… as well as transportation and affordable childcare, greatly increases the risk that the implementation of approved community participation requirements… will result in substantial insurance losses .”
Although Arizona did not respond to the February letter, Indiana submitted more information. However, the latest letter pointed out that the information did not address CMS’s concerns. In fact, the state agrees that it is not feasible to implement work requirements until it fully recovers from the pandemic, but it does not state how to determine when it will be achieved.
In addition, there is evidence that Medicaid job requirements can result in extensive loss of insurance coverage.In Arkansas, more than 18,000 beneficiaries Lost coverage in 2018 After the requirement was promulgated, CMS cited a fact in its February letter to the states.
But supporters of these requirements claim Ask for motivation look for a job.
With the Biden administration entering the White House, job requirements seem unlikely to be allowed. The government withdrew the White House’s support for a case questioning the legality of work requirements in Arkansas and New Hampshire, and the case has been submitted to the Supreme Court. March, Oral argument abolished by the court At the request of the Ministry of Justice.
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