42 Patient Organizations Call for Delay in Medicaid Work Reporting Requirements to Prevent Massive Coverage Losses

As members of Congress return to Washington, D.C. today, 42 non-profit, non-partisan patient organizations issued a statement calling on lawmakers to delay the Medicaid work requirement provisions in Public Law 119-21 (H.R. 1).  

“Less than two months away from nationwide implementation of the work reporting requirements enacted in H.R. 1, our organizations have grave concerns that states do not have the clarity or time they need to implement this policy without dramatic and inappropriate coverage losses for the patients we represent. We therefore urge Congress to enact a two-year delay of work reporting requirements before January 1.”

“While states had just 18 months to make the complex changes to eligibility and enrollment systems and conduct the public education needed to implement this policy, the CMS interim final rule released in June upended much of states’ efforts to date. And in October, a federal court appropriately sided with 26 states and struck down a provision of that rule that narrows the medical frailty exclusion and would lead to massive coverage losses for patients, adding even more uncertainty into implementation. Governors on both sides of the aisle have asked the federal government for additional time.” 

“Throughout the legislative process, lawmakers repeatedly promised that patients we represent would not be harmed by the policies that terminate Medicaid coverage for millions of people in H.R. 1. We see no way to uphold that promise if implementation of work reporting requirements goes ahead on January 1. Our organizations therefore urge members of Congress to enact a two-year delay of work reporting requirements to mitigate immediate coverage losses, while we continue to work to reverse policies that push people out of coverage.” 

AiArthritis 
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American Diabetes Association
American Heart Association
American Kidney Fund
American Lung Association
American Liver Foundation
Arthritis Foundation
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
Blood Cancer United
Cancer Nation
Cancer Support Community
CancerCare
Crohn's & Colitis Foundation
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition
Epilepsy Foundation of America
Family Voices National
Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research
Hemophilia Federation of America
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association
Immune Deficiency Foundation
Legal Action Center
Lupus Foundation of America
Lutheran Services in America
March of Dimes
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
National Bleeding Disorders Foundation
National Health Council
National Kidney Foundation
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
National Organization for Rare Disorders
National Patient Advocate Foundation
National Psoriasis Foundation
Pulmonary Hypertension Association 
RARE Foundation (formerly known as EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases)
Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc. 
Susan G. Komen
The AIDS Institute
The Coalition for Hemophilia B
UsAgainstAlzheimer's
Zero Prostate Cancer