‘Granite Advantage’ Medicaid Waiver Project Will Advance the Efforts of Conservative Lawmakers to Gut the Program
Washington, D.C. – Trump’s HHS continues to approve legally suspect Medicaid waiver projects, the latest coming from New Hampshire with its so-called “Granite Advantage” Section 1115 Medicaid waiver project that includes a work-reporting mandate that will cause thousands of individuals in the state to lose health care coverage and the elimination of retroactive eligibility.
National Health Law Program Legal Director Jane Perkins said the HHS Secretary has again taken authority he does not have.
“Congress has defined the scope of the Secretary’s power to waive portions of the Medicaid Act, and that scope is limited. Here, Secretary Alex Azar is running roughshod over the rule of law to secure political gains. By approving the New Hampshire waiver, the administration is re-writing the Medicaid Act, with the end goal of undermining the health care program,” Perkins said.
Staff Attorney Sarah Grusin said New Hampshire’s work requirement, like those approved in other states, are onerous and will not lead to job creation in the Granite State. Instead, as we are seeing in Arkansas, burdensome work-reporting mandates lead to individuals and families losing access to health care coverage.
“The New Hampshire work requirement mandates that every month, individuals complete 100 hours of work activities and report those hours to the government,” Grusin said. “This in no way furnishes health care coverage to individuals and families enrolled in Medicaid. The work requirement creates additional administrative hurdles that will push people off of Medicaid.”
“Like a number of other states, New Hampshire has received permission to waive retroactive coverage. But elimination of retroactive eligibility is not experimental – it is a simple cut in benefits that will lead to harmful health outcomes for thousands in the state,” said Director of Health Policy Leo Cuello.
The National Health Law Program is leading litigation against similar waiver projects in Kentucky and Arkansas. National Health Law Program also filed comments with HHS objecting to the waiver approvals in Indiana and Wisconsin.
Please contact National Health Law Program Director of Communications Jeremy Leaming at [email protected] or 202-552-5176 for further comment regarding the Trump administration’s latest Medicaid waiver approval.
National Health Law Program, founded in 1969, advocates for the rights of low-income and underserved people to access quality health care.
