US judge blocks Trump’s Medicaid rule forcing ill to prove impairment

What the report says

A US federal judge has blocked part of the Trump administration’s new Medicaid rule that would have required some chronically ill people to prove they are “medically frail” in order to receive an exemption from work requirements. According to Al Jazeera, US District Judge Richard Stearns issued the ruling on Thursday, siding with 25 states and the District of Columbia, which had sued the administration in June over the policy change.

The challenge argued that the rule went beyond what the law allows by narrowing eligibility for people with serious health conditions. Under the statute, medically frail people can include those who are blind or disabled, have substance use disorders or disabling mental disorders, have disabilities that severely limit daily activity, or have serious or complex medical conditions. The administration’s version would have required some of those individuals to also show their conditions significantly limit their ability to meet the work rules.

Stearns said the states had shown they could face irreparable harm, including costly changes to their eligibility systems. The decision does not eliminate Medicaid work requirements entirely. Separate provisions still set January 1, 2027, as the start date for many expansion enrollees ages 19 to 64 to meet monthly work, community service or school-time thresholds, with exemptions for some groups. The ruling did uphold two other federal restrictions on how states may verify medical frailty.