The governor's suit against residents who are challenging Medicaid work requirements, which were blocked by another judge earlier this summer, cannot continue.
A federal judge in Kentucky ruled Monday that Gov. Matt Bevin's lawsuit against 16 residents who challenged the commonwealth's Medicaid work requirement cannot move forward.
The decision to dismiss the countersuit puts to bed an iffy attempt by the Bevins administration to shift the litigation to a jurisdiction perceived as more conservative.
The dispute will instead continue in the D.C. District Court, where Judge James E. Boasberg blocked Kentucky's work requirement for Medicaid recipients earlier this summer by vacating the federal government's approval of a waiver that had authorized the controversial requirement. Boasberg remanded the matter to Health and Human Services for further review.
"That ruling effectively forces the Secretary to revisit its obligations under the Administrative Procedure Act regarding the Kentucky HEALTH waiver; thus, there remains at least some possibility that the waiver—or some version of it—could still be granted," Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove in the Eastern District of Kentucky wrote in Monday's decision.
Related: Despite U.S. Court's Ruling, Medicaid Work Requirements Advance In Other States
Although it had not initially been named in the D.C. suit, the Bevins administration intervened as a defendant there after filing its countersuit in Kentucky—which means the Bevins administration could file a counterclaim against any plaintiff in the D.C. District Court, Van Tatenhove wrote.
Judge Tosses Kentucky's Lawsuit Against Medicaid Recipients by HLMedit on Scribd
Steven Porter is an associate content manager and Strategy editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.