Opinion ID: 8312801
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Kentucky HEALTH

Text: Arkansas was not the only state interested in the new administration's proposal to rethink the Medicaid Expansion. The Commonwealth of Kentucky proposed a demonstration project - called Kentucky HEALTH - with similar community-engagement requirements and cutbacks to retroactive coverage. (It also contained other elements not relevant here.) Kentucky, unlike Arkansas, did estimate the coverage effects of its project, explaining that thousands of persons would lose their Medicaid benefits over the course of the project; indeed, their estimate corresponded to about 95,000 persons losing Medicaid for one full year. As it did in Arkansas, the Secretary approved that project on the ground that it was likely to improv[e] health outcomes and increas[e] individual engagement in health care decisions. Stewart I , 313 F.Supp.3d at 258 (quoting AR 7). Before the project took effect, several Medicaid recipients challenged the Secretary's approval in this Court. They argued, among other things, that the agency had failed to adequately explain why Kentucky HEALTH promoted the objectives of Medicaid and that approval of the project exceeded HHS's statutory authority. The Court concluded that the plaintiffs were right in one central and dispositive respect: [T]he Secretary never adequately considered whether Kentucky HEALTH would in fact help the state furnish medical assistance to its citizens, a central objective  of Medicaid. Id. at 243 . It therefore vacated the Secretary's approval and remanded the matter to the agency for further consideration. Id. at 273 . HHS has since reopened the comment period and subsequently reapproved Kentucky's project, offering additional explanation for why the project advances the objectives of the Medicaid Act. The parties have now come back to the Court and filed cross-motions for summary judgment in that case. The Court issues a separate Opinion today resolving those motions, which it will refer to as Stewart II .