Federal judge dismisses Kentucky governor’s lawsuit against Medicaid recipients News
Federal judge dismisses Kentucky governor’s lawsuit against Medicaid recipients

A Kentucky federal judge on Monday dismissed [text, PDF] a counter-lawsuit filed by Governor Matt Bevin [official website] against 16 Medicaid recipients who want to stop him from adding a work requirement.

The defendants sued [JURIST report] the federal government in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] back in January to block Bevin’s efforts to implement work as a requirement for people to continue receiving Medicaid benefits. In June, the court ruled in their favor, barring [The Hill] Bevin from introducing a work requirement to Medicaid.

In his counter-suit, Bevin argued that the success of the plaintiffs’ lawsuit would force Kentucky to cease the expansion of Medicaid in the state.

Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove disagreed. He wrote:

The Court agrees with Defendants that there is no clear traceability between these Defendants’ conduct and any future harm the Commonwealth claims will occur. Furthermore, even assuming the D.C. Action ultimately runs its full course and prevents the Commonwealth from implementing Kentucky HEALTH, any action thereafter concerning expanded Medicaid in Kentucky would be based on a policy decision by the Commonwealth. Such a decision might cause injury to the Commonwealth, at least the pleadings suggest as much but that injury would be traceable to the Commonwealth’s intervening policy decision and, again, not a result of any conduct by these Defendants.

Tatenhove said that Bevin could have filed his counterclaim in the DC court in which the action was initially brought if he wanted to protect his interests.