A federal judge has denied a request from 25 Democratic-led states to pause the implementation of new Medicaid work requirements. The rules, which were part of a broad tax and spending law signed by President Donald Trump, require states that have expanded Medicaid to mandate that able-bodied adults work, go to school, or volunteer for at least 80 hours a month to keep their coverage.

Background

The states had argued that the new requirements would be too costly and time-consuming to implement, and that the exemption for medically frail individuals was too narrow. However, the judge ruled that the states had not shown that the costs would be excessive, and that the January 1 deadline for implementation was set by Congress, not the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The CMS has said it will reimburse states for 90% of the costs associated with designing and executing the requirements. The judge noted that the states would be responsible for the remaining 10%, but did not believe that this would be a significant burden.

The new requirements could potentially affect millions of people, with estimates suggesting that between 3 million and 7 million people could lose coverage as a result. The Urban Institute has also estimated that up to 10 million people could lose coverage over the next decade, due to the addition of more frequent eligibility checks.

Original reporting: The Connecticut Mirror — read the source article.