LANSING, MI (MPRN)-- Four Michigan residents, on behalf of more than half a million people who would have to work, have filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s new Medicaid expansion work requirements.
Last year, the state submitted a waiver to the federal government. The waiver requested permission to make Healthy Michigan eligibility dependent on certain work requirements. The waiver was granted, and the new rules are scheduled to go into effect after the first of the year in 2020.
Enrollees aged 19 to 62 would have to participate in work or “work-related activities” for 80 hours per month. That’s unless they fall into an exception like being a student or medically frail.
The lawsuit argues that the federal government never should have granted the waiver. It says the new rules violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the Medicaid Act.
Supporters of the work requirement say it promotes upward mobility and helps people be more self-sufficient.