CMS Approves NH Medicaid Work Requirement; Rejects KS Lifetime Limit Proposal

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday authorized New Hampshire to require certain adults in its Medicaid premium assistance program to work or participate in other “community engagement” activities, such as job training, at least 100 hours per month to remain eligible. The program provides premium assistance to adults enrolling in the state’s Medicaid expansion alternative through the health insurance marketplace. In other action yesterday, CMS denied a request by Kansas to impose a lifetime limit on Medicaid benefits as part of a work requirement. “While we continue to review the state’s proposal, we have determined that we will not approve this formulation of the state’s request to impose a lifetime limit on Medicaid benefits for individuals who are eligible for Medicaid,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma wrote. CMS in January issued policy guidance for states proposing demonstration projects that require or encourage working-aged Medicaid beneficiaries who are not pregnant or disabled to participate in work or other community engagement activities, later approving waivers for Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas. At least seven other states have submitted proposals that include community engagement initiatives: Arizona, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin.