--- title: Trump Administration Defends Medicaid Work Requirements description: A federal judge heard legal challenges to a Trump Administration policy that allows states to implement work requirements for Medicaid. canonical: https://time.com/5551620/medicaid-work-requirements-arkansas-kentucky-court/ author: Abigail Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-14T18:35:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T11:54:54.900Z article:section: Politics og:title: Can You Be Forced to Work in Order to Get Medicaid? A Federal Judge Will Soon Decide og:description: Seven states have gotten approval so far og:url: https://time.com/5551620/medicaid-work-requirements-arkansas-kentucky-court/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta6ae6ca0f1f6956c/698946b786f68e32936eb82c/alex-azar-health-human-services-medicaid.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Health And Human Services Secretary Nominee Alex Azar Testifies To Senate Committee At His Confirmation Hearing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Can You Be Forced to Work in Order to Get Medicaid? A Federal Judge Will Soon Decide twitter:description: Seven states have gotten approval so far twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta6ae6ca0f1f6956c/698946b786f68e32936eb82c/alex-azar-health-human-services-medicaid.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Can You Be Forced to Work in Order to Get Medicaid? A Federal Judge Will Soon Decide > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=418ab4dd-8e6c-4e47-8495-62e77e255809&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Daily | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Tuesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | Source: TIME, August 2026. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=418ab4dd-8e6c-4e47-8495-62e77e255809&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=418ab4dd-8e6c-4e47-8495-62e77e255809&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (daily health), Worth Your Time (culture, twice weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Mar 14, 2019 6:35 PM UTC  Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies before the Senate Finance Committee during his nomination process on Jan. 9, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies before the Senate Finance Committee during his nomination process on Jan. 9, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Win McNamee—Getty Images by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Mar 14, 2019 6:35 PM UTC A federal judge heard legal challenges Thursday to a Trump Administration policy that allows states to implement work requirements in order for residents to qualify for Medicaid. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg heard oral arguments in two separate cases challenging plans in Arkansas and Kentucky that require Medicaid enrollees to either have a job or meet “community engagement” requirements to receive their health benefits. The cases are important tests for what Republicans have touted as a conservative health-care experiment and could have major implications for how low-income Americans access healthcare in the coming years. Arkansas was the first state to implement the new Medicaid work requirements last year, and the process did not go smoothly. The state has drawn significant criticism after more than [18,000 people](https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/state-data-for-medicaid-work-requirements-in-arkansas/) lost their health coverage for failing to comply with the requirements or failing to officially report their compliance. [Kentucky](http://time.com/5102167/kentucky-medicaid-work-requirement/) has not yet put the requirements in effect because Boasberg actually [struck down](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/health/kentucky-medicaid-work-rules.html) the state’s plan last June. At the time, Boasberg, an Obama appointee, [said](https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show%5Fpublic%5Fdoc?2018cv0152-74) the Trump Administration’s approval of Kentucky’s plan was “arbitrary and capricious” because it did not adequately consider the impact of the work requirements or whether they would “help the state furnish medical assistance to its citizens, a central objective of Medicaid.” Kentucky has since filed a new waiver application to implement work requirements and the Trump Administration approved it again. But the key question remains: Does requiring Medicaid recipients to work or volunteer serve the objective of Medicaid as a “medical assistance” program? Many health care advocates have said no, that these requirements go against Medicaid’s purpose because they have led to people losing their health insurance coverage. The lawyers challenging each of the Arkansas and the Kentucky plans agree, and have argued that the work requirements violate [federal law](https://www.ssa.gov/OP%5FHome/ssact/title19/1900.htm). “The approved amendment undermines — instead of bolsters — access to Medicaid services,” Kevin De Liban, an attorney at Legal Aid of Arkansas who is representing the group of enrollees challenging the Arkansas work requirement, said in a statement on Thursday. “Medicaid helps people stay healthy enough to work. Therefore, it does not make any sense to make people jump through needless and costly hoops when they are often already working or trying to take care of family members.” The Trump Administration and the states hoping to implement Medicaid work requirements disagree. The Department of Health and Human Services has approved work requirements for [seven states](https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/medicaid-waiver-tracker-approved-and-pending-section-1115-waivers-by-state/) so far, though just three have implemented them. Officials claim that the requirements will help improve people’s economic situations and that will improve their health — despite [research](https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/understanding-the-intersection-of-medicaid-and-work/) showing that most Medicaid recipients already work or have reasons they would not be expected to do so. Health advocates aren’t the only ones skeptical of the work requirements. After seeing the large losses of coverage in Arkansas last fall, the nonpartisan commission that oversees Medicaid sent a [letter to HHS](https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20181109/NEWS/181109900/macpac-calls-for-pause-on-arkansas-medicaid-work-requirement) in November asking it to temporarily stop Arkansas’s work requirements until the agency could help enrollees comply. Arkansas did add an option for enrollees to report their work or volunteer hours by phone (they initially could only do so online), but the work requirements have continued this year. Still others have doubts. After President Donald Trump’s budget this week proposed adding work requirements nationwide, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told lawmakers on Tuesday that his agency “does not yet have data” as to why people fell off Medicaid in Arkansas after the work requirements were put in place. In a recent congressional hearing, Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Joe Kennedy pressed Azar in a [tense exchange](https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/1105551728391475200) about why the Administration wanted to expand work requirements without data, and Azar’s answers did not seem to satisfy him. “In your agency’s budget you propose implementing mandatory work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries, not knowing what the impact will be, across every single state,” Kennedy said. “You just said you’re not sure why people are losing it, yet you want to extend that to every single state. Where’s the logic in that?” While Judge Boasberg has seemed similarly skeptical in the past, the situations have high stakes for those around the country, and even more immediately, for Medicaid recipients in Arkansas and Kentucky. In Kentucky, Gov. Matt Bevin has filed an executive order saying his state will end Medicaid expansion entirely if the court blocks Kentucky’s work requirements again. And under Arkansas’s current work requirements, people can lose coverage if they fail to comply (or report their compliance) for three months in one year. That means if there’s no decision by April — or if the requirements stay in place — more people will likely lose their Medicaid coverage at the end of this month. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5551620/medicaid-work-requirements-arkansas-kentucky-court/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5551620/medicaid-work-requirements-arkansas-kentucky-court/"},"headline":"Can You Be Forced to Work in Order to Get Medicaid? A Federal Judge Will Soon Decide","datePublished":"2019-03-14T18:35:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T11:54:54.900Z","description":"A federal judge heard legal challenges to a Trump Administration policy that allows states to implement work requirements for Medicaid.","url":"https://time.com/5551620/medicaid-work-requirements-arkansas-kentucky-court/","keywords":["Medicaid","health","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta6ae6ca0f1f6956c/698946b786f68e32936eb82c/alex-azar-health-human-services-medicaid.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta6ae6ca0f1f6956c/698946b786f68e32936eb82c/alex-azar-health-human-services-medicaid.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Health And Human Services Secretary Nominee Alex Azar Testifies To Senate Committee At His Confirmation Hearing","caption":"Health And Human Services Secretary Nominee Alex Azar Testifies To Senate Committee At His Confirmation Hearing","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/medicaid/","name":"Medicaid"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5551620/medicaid-work-requirements-arkansas-kentucky-court/","name":"Can You Be Forced to Work in Order to Get Medicaid? A Federal Judge Will Soon Decide"}}]}] ```