(Reuters) – A federal judge on Wednesday overturned the Trump administration’s approval of plans by the states of Kentucky and Arkansas to impose new work requirements on people seeking to obtain benefits from the Medicaid health insurance program.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington ruled that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services acted arbitrarily in approving the plans put forward by Kentucky and Arkansas.
The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The decision came in separate lawsuits by Kentucky and Arkansas residents enrolled in Medicaid. It marked a setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to scale back the joint federal-and-state healthcare program for the poor and disabled.
Kentucky and Arkansas are among seven states that have received approval by Health and Human Services under U.S. President Donald Trump to impose requirements that people seeking coverage under Medicaid engage in work or work-related activities, like job training.
The waivers to federal Medicaid requirements that the department issued are part of an initiative to put a conservative stamp on Medicaid, which expanded in more than 30 states following the passage in 2010 of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
Kentucky’s requirements mandate that able-bodied Medicaid recipients participate in at least 80 hours a month of “employment activities,” including job training, education and community service.
The ruling in Kentucky’s case marked the second time that Boasberg had vacated the approval of a waiver issued to the state. Health and Human Services approved Kentucky’s latest waiver in November, after Boasberg vacated an earlier one in June 2018.
Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Phil Berlowitz