The non-partisan legislative branch agency that advises Congress and the administration on Medicaid issues will ask the administration to delay approving any more state Medicaid work requirements.

That was the decision reached by the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission when it met last week.

MACPAC warned that the work requirement currently being implemented in Arkansas, the first state to introduce such a requirement, is flawed and needs further work before moving forward.  The agency also believes the federal government should increase its oversight of new Medicaid work requirements before additional states begin implementing similar, already-approved Medicaid work requirements.

MACPAC plans to convey its concerns in a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

Medicaid work requirements pose a potential challenge for private safety-net hospitals because they could leave meaningful numbers of low-income residents of the communities those hospitals serve without health insurance.

Learn more about MACPAC’s objections to the manner in which Medicaid work requirements are being introduced in this Bloomberg Law article.