Trump officials reject Medicaid lifetime limits in Kansas

The Hill ^ | 05/07/2018 | Peter Sullivan

[GIdget2004]

The Trump administration announced Monday that it is rejecting Kansas’s request to impose lifetime limits on Medicaid benefits, drawing a line against a new level of conservative changes to the program.

The administration has already approved work requirements in Medicaid, a controversial move in itself, but Monday’s decision indicates that time limits on Medicaid coverage are going too far for the Trump administration.

“We have determined that we will not approve Kansas’ recent request to place a lifetime limit on Medicaid benefits for some beneficiaries,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma said Monday in a speech to an American Hospital Association meeting.

“We seek to create a pathway out of poverty, but we also understand that people’s circumstances change, and we must ensure that our programs are sustainable and available to them when they need and qualify for them,” she added.

Kansas’s proposal would have limited Medicaid coverage to three years, at which point people would lose access to Medicaid forever.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I suppose the fear is that as people approach their three-year limit they’ll just leave Kansas and put the burden on some other state.

Seems it needs to be nationwide.

[mewzilla]

If KS want to cut down on fraud, then KS should grow some big brass ones and effectively means test and prosecute fraudsters.

[captain_dave]

That’s a good decision. It’s important to maintain public health.