Kentucky Medicaid recipients file suit again to block work requirements

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WTVQ) – More than a dozen Kentuckians enrolled in Medicaid re-filed a lawsuit against the federal government, challenging its re-approval of work requirements and co-pays to the state Medicaid program.

The lawsuit comes after the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in June 2018 that Governor Matt Bevin’s Kentucky HEALTH initiative, adding work requirements to the state’s Medicaid program, was “arbitrary and capricious.”

The Court vacated the approval and found the U.S. Department Health and Human Service failed to consider how the requirements would impact the estimated 95,000 Kentuckians that would be removed from Medicaid if Bevin’s HEALTH initiative went into effect.

In November, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services re-approved Bevin’s Medicaid waiver proposal with minor changes, prompting the amended lawsuit that was filed Monday.

The case will be heard in Washington, D.C.

Bevin wanted the case to be heard in Kentucky.

The plaintiffs are represented by Kentucky Equal Justice Center (KEJC), the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and National Health Law Program (NHeLP).