Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin lost another round in his legal fight over his efforts to overhaul the state’s Medicaid program, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports.
U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove dismissed a lawsuit Bevin filed on Feb. 19 against 16 Kentuckians who challenged his changes, saying “not all disputes are capable of federal judicial review.”
“Federal courts are limited in their jurisdiction, and they can only hear cases where the plaintiff can establish jurisdiction. Here, the commonwealth failed to do so,” wrote Van Tatenhove.
Bevin, a Republican, was seeking a ruling that his proposed changes to the state’s Medicaid program were lawful, including a requirement that some enrollees pay co-pays or work to keep their benefits.
Sixteen Kentucky Medicaid recipients sued the federal government in January to block Bevin’s proposed changes, claiming that the plan should not have been approved in the first place. The Medicaid program provides health coverage for more than 400,000 low-income people in Kentucky.
A federal judge in late June struck down Bevin’s plan, which halted changes that were to take effect, but the Trump administration is still plowing forward with a similar approach.
“We are fully committed to work requirements and community participation requirements in the Medicaid program,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told an audience at the right-wing Heritage Foundation in July.
“We will continue to approve plans, we are continuing to work with states and we’ll drive forward.”
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