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Colyer: Kansas Will Pursue Medicaid Work Rules Despite Court Ruling

Gov. Jeff Colyer said Kansas will continue to push to impose a work requirement on Medicaid recipients.
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Kansas Public Radio
Gov. Jeff Colyer said Kansas will continue to push to impose a work requirement on Medicaid recipients.

Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer says he will continue to push for a Medicaid work requirement despite a recent court order blocking a similar policy in Kentucky.

Last week, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee in the District of Columbia, questioned whether the Trump administration had adequately considered the consequences of Kentucky’s work requirement before reversing longstanding federal policy to approve it.

Despite the setback, Colyer said his administration will continue discussions with federal officials about requiring some of the more than 420,000 Kansans enrolled in KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, to work or pursue job training.

“I remain strongly committed to incentivizing self-reliance through work,” Colyer said in an email to the Kansas News Service.

Noting that the requirement would apply to only non-disabled adults, Colyer said, “These sort of initiatives have been incredibly successful in transitioning people from public assistance to independence.”

Sheldon Weisgrau, the leader of a broad-based coalition pushing to make more people eligible for KanCare, said the court ruling “confirms that work requirements do nothing to enhance access to health care.”

“Instead, such mandates are costly and punitive, wasting millions of dollars to create bureaucratic obstacles and ultimately covering fewer people,” Weisgrau said.

A recent study by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning nonpartisan research organization based in Washington, D.C., found that Medicaid work requirements could be counterproductive.

Forcing Medicaid recipients into low-wage jobs, the report said, would leave many ineligible for Medicaid but unable to afford private coverage. 

In the final weeks of the 2018 legislative session, Kansas lawmakers approved a budget proviso that allows the Colyer administration to continue negotiating with federal officials. Butit prohibits state officials from implementing a work requirement without legislative approval.

Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks

Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post. 

Copyright 2021 KCUR 89.3. To see more, visit KCUR 89.3.

Jim McLean is an editor and reporter for KCUR 89.3. He is the managing director of KCUR's Kansas News Service, a collaboration between KCUR and other public media stations across Kansas.