HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/LEGAL/MEDICARE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Advocacy groups sued the Trump administration Wednesday [1-24-18] to block work requirements and other changes to Kentucky’s Medicaid program, setting up a legal battle that could help define the limits of the conservative push to revamp the program in about a dozen states.
The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., seeks class-action status on behalf of 15 plaintiffs who assert that the changes, approved by the Trump administration, are illegal and go beyond the administration’s authority.
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican, pushed the Medicaid changes in his state. He also has issued an executive order saying that Kentucky’s expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act would end if courts strike down any of the changes. About 400,000 Kentuckians received coverage under the expansion…
Defendants in the lawsuit include the Department of Health and Human Services and Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an agency within the department.
The lawsuit says administration officials’ comments about the ACA and Medicaid show a concerted effort to undermine the law, despite President Donald Trump’s obligation to faithfully execute it.
The suit also asserts the administration failed to go through a proper notice period when it told state Medicaid directors in January it would support work requirements.”
-Stephanie Armour, “Trump Administration Faces Lawsuit Over Kentucky Medicaid Work Requirements,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 24, 2018 02:06pm