Five things to know:
1. In his March 27 ruling, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg blocked Kentucky from implementing work requirements for Medicaid recipients and stopped Arkansas from continuing its Medicaid work requirement program.
2. In Arkansas, more than 18,000 Medicaid recipients have lost coverage since the state rolled out work requirements in summer 2018.
3. Mr. Boasberg said HHS’ approval of work requirements is “arbitrary and capricious because it did not address … how the project would implicate the ‘core’ objective of Medicaid: the provision of medical coverage to the needy.”
4. In a statement to NPR, CMS Administrator Seema Verma said the rulings likely won’t affect the Trump administration’s efforts to approve work requirements in other states. The administration has greenlighted work requirements in eight states and is working on seven others.
5. This is the second time in nine months Mr. Boasberg struck down the Trump administration’s move to require Medicaid beneficiaries to work to receive benefits.
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