Medicaid Work Requirements Struck Down in a 3rd State

A federal judge struck down New Hampshire's Medicaid work requirements on Monday. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg -- who also vacated Arkansas and Kentucky's work requirements -- ruled that the policy is "arbitrary and capricious."

"We have all seen this movie before," he wrote in regards to the anticipated health insurance losses.

Before Boasberg's latest decision, New Hampshire officials already put the work requirements on hold after estimating that 17,000 people would have lost their Medicaid coverage in August. It's the third state to halt such requirements, which were not allowed under the Obama administration.

The idea of work requirements for Medicaid arose after the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), President Barack Obama's signature health-care legislation. The law allows and encourages states to expand the number of low-income people eligible for Medicaid. The federal government initially pays 100 percent -- and eventually 90 percent -- of the costs of expanding eligibility to people earning 138 percent of the federal poverty line.

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