Washington, D.C. – Today, a federal district court issued a scathing rebuke of the Trump Administration’s approval of Kentucky’s Medicaid waiver putting health care for up to 97,000 Kentuckians at risk by imposing rigid work requirements that could be impossible for many of the people most in need to meet. In response, Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, released the following statement:
“This decision is a victory for the Kentuckians who need affordable health care the most — children, people with chronic health care conditions, and low-wage workers. Nearly 100,000 Kentuckians stood to lose coverage if this mean-spirited law was to take effect. But this fight isn’t over, since Governor Bevin made it plain he’d throw health care for 500,000 Kentuckians overboard if the court didn’t rule in his favor. We call on Governor Bevin to stand down from his crusade against Kentucky families who rely on Medicaid for coverage, and instead turn his focus to the urgent health needs confronting the people of his state, like the tragic opioid crisis.”
Said the Court in its ruling today: “[Secretary Azar] never adequately considered whether Kentucky HEALTH would in fact help the state furnish medical assistance to its citizens, a central objective of Medicaid. This signal omission renders his determination arbitrary and capricious. The Court, consequently, will vacate the approval of Kentucky’s project and remand the matter to HHS for further review.”
BACKGROUND:
- 500,000 Kentuckians could lose coverage if Gov. Bevin ends the state’s Medicaid expansion, according to Kentucky Health and Family Services Secretary Adam Meier.
- Low-wage workers made up the majority of Medicaid-eligible adults who gained coverage under the state’s expansion.
- Those currently covered by Medicaid in Kentucky include:
- 561,326 children, composing 39 percent of all state Medicaid enrollees;
- 9,500 veterans and 5,300 spouses of veterans, who gained coverage under expansion;
- 44 percent of all births in the state;
- 90,794 elder Americans aged 65 and older, and
- 161,380 Medicaid enrollees who are disabled or require long-term care.
- Medicaid is supported by 74 percent of Americans.