Arizona is preparing to impose new Medicaid work requirements on some adults, raising concerns that the state could face another difficult rollout of public-benefit reporting rules after recent changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 (OBBBA) beginning Jan. 1, 2027,...
A federal judge has rejected the effort from a coalition of 25 states, including Arizona, to enjoin a rule by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that would require patients to prove "medical frailty" in order to obtain an exemption from the federally mandated Medicaid work requirement authorized by the One Big Beautiful...
Prior to the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, which authorized the creation of national rules for Medicaid work requirements, Arizona was primed to implement a work requirement for eligibility on its own. In the finalized rule, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services suddenly altered the guidance for exemption...CMS Rules
The provision getting the most attention in the interim final rule is that HHS declined to give states flexibility to create additional categories of "medically frail" Medicaid beneficiaries exempt from the new work requirements. The agency said the five exemption categories established in federal law are broad enough to cover...Arizona News
A new analysis from the Urban Institute, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, finds that recently enacted federal Medicaid policy changes could significantly reduce coverage, with Arizona facing substantial enrollment losses depending on how the state implements the law.
The report examines the impact of work requirements and...
A new RAND analysis of the Medicaid provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act suggests Arizona could face some of the largest fiscal and enrollment impacts in the country over the next decade.
The research report published last week finds that expansion states with heavy use of state-directed payments and provider...
During Wednesday's State Medicaid Advisory Committee (SMAC) quarterly meeting, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System announced it had submitted a waiver to enact work requirements for an estimated 190,000 Arizona Medicaid members.
In 2017 AHCCCS submitted a 1115 waiver for AHCCS Works which was approved by CMS in 2019. The...Arizona News
This week offered dueling visions for access to Medicaid coverage with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy wanting Medicaid work requirements to be part of the debt ceiling debate and the Biden administration's plans to expand Marketplace and Medicaid coverage for DACA recipients. Meanwhile in Arizona, CMS approved state plan amendments...National News
This week, Georgia initiated a lawsuit against the Biden administration after the government revoked the state’s ability to expand Medicaid with an included work requirement.
The Trump administration had previously approved work requirements for Georgia, Arizona, and 15 other states in 2019, but the Biden administration has...National News
On Thursday, the Biden administration rejected work requirements for Medicaid recipients in Georgia, the last state with a federal waiver from the Trump administration for such restrictions.
Though the Trump administration had previously approved work requirements for 17 states, including Arizona, in February 2021, Centers for...Arizona News
Last week CMS said it has taken steps to advance a package of state-led reforms that could result in thousands of uninsured Georgians gaining access to coverage. Specifically, CMS announced the approval of Georgia's new Medicaid section 1115 demonstration called "Pathways to Coverage."
CMS began implementing work requirements for...
A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court's decision to strike down Arkansas’ Medicaid work requirements initiative.
The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit voted unanimously on Feb. 14, decrying the federal government’s approval of the state’s program.
They decided the Arkansas system...
This month, The Hertel Report covers the latest local news on Medicaid work requirements, the closing of St. Luke's Medical Center, navigator challenges during open enrollment, details on Mayo's Clinic's five-year expansion plan and Arizona MA and ACA individual market mixes for 2020. National coverage include's the GOP health plan,...
