Dozens of states sue Trump administration over ‘frail’ Medicaid work requirement exemption

A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia is suing the Trump administration over a new rule implementing Medicaid work requirement exemptions for medically frail people. 

According to the lawsuit, which was filed Monday in federal district court in Massachusetts, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) violated congressional protections when it issued an interim final rule concerning who is eligible for exemptions from new Medicaid work requirements. 

The lawsuit alleges the administration adopted a rule that “dramatically narrowed the Congressionally established exclusions from the work requirement for some of the most vulnerable Medicaid members.” 

The states argue the new rule will lead people who are either already working or eligible for an exclusion to lose or be denied coverage. 

The rule “creates new requirements that constrain who is exempt due to their medically frail status and force medically frail individuals in need of healthcare to jump through unnecessary administrative hoops to get and retain life-saving healthcare........

© The Hill