States must pivot on Medicaid work requirements after CMS rule

June 16, 2026

The race is on for states to iron out their Medicaid work requirement plans and tie up loose ends for providers, insurers and beneficiaries.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a long-awaited regulation this month laying out federal standards for work requirements. But states facing down a Jan. 1, 2027, deadline to have the system running will have to quickly rethink their strategies because CMS caught them by surprise on key issues.

States, health insurance companies, providers, enrollees and other stakeholders have less than six months to implement the biggest change to Medicaid since the Affordable Care Act of 2010 expansion. For policies this complex, that’s no time at all. To read the full article, click here.