No Borders NewsArizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced a lawsuit with a coalition of 24 other state attorneys general and two governors challenging new Medicaid work requirements for medically frail individuals.
The lawsuit targets an interim final rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published on June 3, 2026. The rule is described as changing how CMS interprets key terms such as “medically frail,” which affects who can be excused from work requirements.
According to the announcement, Congress created exemptions in Medicaid work requirement rules to protect people with serious illnesses and disabilities from losing coverage or having their care interrupted. The coalition argues the interim final rule unlawfully narrows those protections and makes it harder for medically vulnerable people to qualify for exemptions.
The announcement says the work requirement provision is set to begin January 1, 2027, but states must notify Medicaid recipients by August 31, 2026. The coalition argues states need time to communicate changes and prepare systems, and that they should not have to wait for CMS to fix problems through the normal rulemaking process.
The coalition also says the interim final rule could increase administrative burdens and create red tape, leading eligible people to lose coverage. It further alleges the rule ignores evidence about how reporting requirements can cause coverage loss and fails to consider alternatives and harms to states, beneficiaries, providers, and state healthcare systems.