Mitigating Human Rights Harms Of Medicaid Work Requirements

On May 21, 2026, Human Rights Watch and OXFAM America published a letter addressed to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services and Mehmet Oz, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The letter highlighted problematic aspects of the implementation of Medicaid work requirements under the 2025 Reconciliation Act (Public Law No: 119-21), which included the risk of existing administrative barriers, inconsistent state practices, and due process failures that could place millions of people eligible for Medicaid at risk of an avoidable loss of healthcare coverage . . .