Pallone and Wyden Call on Trump Administration to Immediately Delay Implementation of Medicaid Paperwork Requirements
Washington, D.C. – House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) wrote to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz asking the Trump Administration to immediately delay implementation of the Medicaid paperwork reporting requirements set to go into effect on January 1, 2027.
“CMS must immediately exercise its statutory authority and available enforcement discretion to give states additional time to implement work reporting requirements and protect eligible beneficiaries from losing coverage,” Pallone and Wyden wrote to Administrator Oz. “It is clear that CMS must permit all states, consistent with applicable law, to delay denials and terminations of coverage attributable to work reporting requirements until their eligibility systems, verification processes, and beneficiary protections have been fully implemented and tested.”
The letter comes amid mounting uncertainty for states just weeks before the implementation deadline. Last month, a federal court ruled CMS unlawfully narrowed the law’s exemption for medically frail individuals, using a standard so restrictive that even a cancer diagnosis might not qualify. Rather than accept the ruling, Administrator Oz stated the Trump Administration will appeal the decision, leaving states without a final answer on a core policy before the paperwork requirements go live. Pallone and Wyden argued that CMS’ actions and continued legal challenges make it even harder for states to meet an already impossible timeline and urged CMS to grant good faith exemptions to every state that requests one.
The lawmakers also raised alarm that CMS leadership is actively discouraging states from seeking the good faith exemptions Congress built into the law, despite knowing many states are still not ready to implement the new requirements. Pallone and Wyden called on CMS to publicly release state readiness assessments, exemption requests and decisions, and, once requirements take effect, state-level data on coverage denials and terminations.
“Repealing the devastating Medicaid cuts enacted under H.R. 1, including work reporting requirements, will be a top priority of Democrats in the 120th Congress. Until Congress acts, however, CMS has a responsibility to carry out the law as Congress established it, and to ensure that implementation does not unnecessarily jeopardize coverage for eligible beneficiaries,” the Democratic Committee leaders continued. “CMS must recognize these challenges and exercise the authority Congress provided to give states the time and flexibility they need. Failing to permit states to delay implementation despite known operational deficiencies will worsen preventable coverage losses for which Congressional Democrats will hold the Trump Administration accountable.”
Read the full letter HERE.
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