SPLC: 17,000 people in Arkansas lose Medicaid coverage due to work requirements
A new report released today by the Arkansas Department of Human Services shows that another 4,600 residents were stripped of their Medicaid coverage this month, bringing the total number of residents who have lost Medicaid coverage because of the state’s work requirements to approximately 17,000.
“The numbers speak for themselves. Arkansas has kicked 17,000 low-income individuals off the Medicaid program, meaning more people have been terminated than have been able to jump through these bureaucratic hoops,” said Sam Brooke, deputy legal director for the SPLC. “Terminating coverage is not helping anyone – it is simply punishing those who are struggling to comply with these paperwork requirements.
“Arkansas should be attempting to make access to health care easier. We urge anyone who has been kicked off the program to re-apply in January while we will continue our fight in the courts against the Trump administration’s effort to transform Medicaid into a work program.”
The SPLC is representing plaintiffs in Arkansas along with Legal Aid of Arkansas and the National Health Law Program in the second federal lawsuit against the Trump administration that challenges a Medicaid work requirement.
More information about Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas is available here.
Click on the following links for more information about similar litigation in Kentucky and Alabama.
Photo credit: Darwin Brandis/Pond 5
