Ruling creates uncertainty for states’ Medicaid work rules

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The governor whose state is at the center of the fight over work requirements for Medicaid recipients says he wants to fight a judge’s ruling blocking those rules.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Thursday urged the federal government to appeal the ruling against his state’s requirement that certain people covered by its Medicaid expansion work or lose coverage. A day earlier, a federal judge in Washington blocked work requirements in Arkansas and Kentucky.

Republicans elsewhere are trying to determine the decision’s effect on their state.

Arizona, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin have had work requirements approved by the federal government, but they are not yet implemented. Several other states have requests pending.

Expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income adults was key pillar of former President Barack Obama’s health care reforms.