From June To November 2018, 17,000 People Lost Arkansas Medicaid Benefits Over Failure To Meet Work Requirements

On December 21, 2018, the National Health Law Program and the Southern Poverty Law Center and Jonesboro-based Legal Aid of Arkansas filed a brief that said that nearly 17,000 Arkansas Medicaid beneficiaries subject to work requirements lost Medicaid coverage. The premise of the brief is that the work requirement functions as a “simple benefits cut,” which is not permitted under federal Medicaid rules.

In June 2018, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) implemented a Medicaid 1115 waiver, Arkansas Works, that included work and community-engagement requirements for non-exempt enrollees. The Arkansas Works Medicaid program is a . . .