1 / 2FILE - In this Sept. 12, 2018, file photo, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, center, talks at a news conference at the State Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., about the state's work requirement for its expanded Medicaid program. Federal judge James Boasberg is blocking Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas and Kentucky, dealing a blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to push the poor toward self-sufficiency.
HHS approval of the Arkansas work requirement was"arbitrary and capricious because it did not address...whether and how the project would implicate the 'core' objective of Medicaid: the provision of medical coverage to the needy," wrote Boasberg. The judge used similar language in his ruling on Kentucky.
About 6 in 10 adults on Medicaid already work in low-wage jobs, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. Most of those not working cite reasons such as poor health, caring for an elder or child, or going to school. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, also a Republican, said he was disappointed by the decision and would publicly address it Thursday.
Advocates for the poor say that Medicaid is a health care program and that work requirements have no place in it. President Donald Trump supports work requirements for public programs across the government. Last year, he signed an executive order directing Cabinet agencies to add or strengthen work requirements for programs including subsidized housing, food stamps and cash welfare.