A lawsuit challenging Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky is experiencing some roadblocks because of the federal government shutdown. A federal judge has agreed to push back all deadlines in the case by one week.
It’s a small victory for the Department of Justice, which asked for the court to put all deadlines on hold. The department said in its request that it didn’t have any money to pay its attorneys because of the shutdown.
But the judge said in a court document that he wasn’t leaning toward granting a longer extension unless Kentucky agreed to push back its implementation date of April 1.
Adam Meier, secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said in a statement to WNIN at the time that the state would continue to work toward that April 1 start date.
"Kentuckians, and specifically our Medicaid members," he wrote in the statement, "deserve a Medicaid program that will improve health outcomes and provide paths for employability, long-term stability, and future success while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of Medicaid for those who need it most"
The parties in the case previously agreed to a filing schedule that would allow the judge to rule before the April 1 start date.
The lawsuit is the second legal challenge to the state's Medicaid waiver program, which was successfully halted after the same federal judge ruled last June against the federal governement's decision to appove it. The program went back to the Department of Health and Human Services for review, and it was re-approved in November with no significant changes.
Kentucky says the Medicaid waiver program is necessary for the solvency of its Medicaid program and that the work requirement would help those on Medicaid reach financial self-reliance.
Lawyers for the more than a dozen plaintiffs say the changes, which include making some recipients work 80 hours a month, don’t further Medicaid's goals of providing care and improving health.
