https://goo.gl/gc7Js3Over 160 organizations, including many advocates for mental health and opioid use disorder, have written to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to protest the new federal policy imposing work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries.
The groups want Azar to withdraw the guidance on the work requirement that was issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on January 11. They also want the government to discontinue state waiver approvals that include work requirements.
The policy would hinder healthcare access provided by Medicaid to individuals with chronic health conditions, especially those struggling with substance use disorders and mental health disorders, they told Azar.
"This is deeply troubling given the devastating and escalating opioid overdose crisis that President Trump has designated as a national public health emergency," the letter said.
CMS's policy is at odds with bipartisan efforts to curb the opioid crisis and to improve reentry from prisons and jails, it said.
These beneficiaries would be subject to the work requirement because they don't satisfy the Social Security disability requirement for an exemption.
The January CMS guidance requires able-bodied adults to work or be involved in community service to receive Medicaid benefits. On the same day, CMS approved a Medicaid demonstration waiver for work requirements in Kentucky.
Within two weeks, three organizations representing 15 Medicaid beneficiaries in Kentucky filed a lawsuit to stop the waiver from moving forward. Future lawsuits are expected from other states that are also requesting waivers.