Today, POCIL urged Illinois decisionmakers to request an extension of time from the federal government to postpone Medicaid work requirements implementation in Illinois.

Beneficiaries are at a heightened risk of wrongly losing coverage because of the complexity and abbreviated timeline required by federal law for these new work requirements. POCIL appreciates that the state agencies have been very transparent about the difficulties facing the state, beneficiaries, and community partners in implementing these federal changes. We urge Illinois to officially request an extension to seek more time to work with partners, user-test, and train caseworkers before the Medicaid work requirements come online. If the federal government does not fairly assess this request for extension, we urge Illinois to evaluate whether the federal government has complied with all applicable laws and take appropriate action. Illinois must take every available step to ensure that implementation of these requirements does not result in eligible people losing access to the healthcare coverage they need.

Read the full letter that was sent here.