After a district judge blocked Kentucky's Medicaid work requirements, Gov. Matt Bevins announced his administration would cut dental and vision benefits for nearly half a million Kentucky Medicaid recipients, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled that Mr. Bevin's work requirements outlined in the Kentucky HEALTH plan did not adequately help provide medical assistance to state residents, the central aim of Medicaid. He sent the plan back to HHS for further review.
"When Kentucky HEALTH was struck down by the court, the 'My Rewards Account' program was invalidated, meaning there is no longer a legal mechanism in place to pay for dental and vision coverage for about 460,000 beneficiaries who have been placed in the Alternative Benefit Plan," Mr. Bevin's administration wrote in an email, according to the Courier-Journal. "As such, they no longer have access to dental and vision coverage as a result of the court's ruling."
Many legislators came out against the move by the Bevins administration and said they plan to protest the decision.
"We've got to have the public rise up," said Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., according to the Courier-Journal. "This is going to be extremely dangerous for the citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky."