{"id":2139,"date":"2026-06-09T13:50:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T13:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.protectourcareil.org\/?p=2139"},"modified":"2026-06-09T13:50:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T13:50:29","slug":"poc-il-statement-on-cms-issued-rule-implementing-medicaid-work-requirements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.protectourcareil.org\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/poc-il-statement-on-cms-issued-rule-implementing-medicaid-work-requirements\/","title":{"rendered":"POC-IL Statement on CMS Issued Rule Implementing Medicaid Work Requirements"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">On June 1<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">st<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, 2026, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/public-inspection.federalregister.gov\/2026-11094.pdf\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">an Interim Final Rule<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, providing guidance to states to implement Medicaid work requirements, which will go into effect in Illinois on January 1, 2027.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Contradicting\u00a0its previous communication to states and, in some instances the statutory language of H.R.1, the CMS rule\u00a0appears\u00a0very restrictive and\u00a0likely to pose such\u00a0burdens\u00a0to patients, providers, and states that\u00a0eligible individuals, including those with serious medical conditions, will inevitably lose their Medicaid coverage during the maze-like implementation.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:278}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The most significant guidance in the rule\u00a0appears to indicate\u00a0that adults who are considered \u201cmedically frail\u201d i.e. have cancer, HIV, kidney disease, etc., or their physicians will eventually need to provide documentation to prove that they are sufficiently ill that they are not able to comply with the work reporting requirements; self-attestation and\/or a diagnosis alone from a medical provider\u00a0may\u00a0not be sufficient.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:278}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Additionally, while caretakers for minor children and disabled adults can qualify for work reporting exemptions, even if they are not related to or\u00a0reside\u00a0with the\u00a0individual\u00a0they are caretaking for, CMS issued no guidance to states for how individuals can document that they qualify.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Medical and social service providers already overburdened with paperwork may need to individually review patient cases to\u00a0determine\u00a0whether they meet a threshold of medical frailty\u00a0in order to\u00a0be exempt from work reporting requirements.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.protectourcareil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/POCIL-Letter-on-CMS-Final-Rule-05.22.26.pdf\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">As we expressed to CMS before the release of the rule<\/span><\/b><\/a><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, states are not equipped to implement this level of complexity on such a short timescale.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">States began implementation planning in communication with CMS since H.R.1 was signed into law on July 4, 2025, and unless granted an extension, there is now less than 6 months to implement this new, contradictory guidance which will require significant overhauls to\u00a0state\u00a0systems and processes.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Protect Our Care Illinois (POCIL) Coalition is concerned that many individuals will unnecessarily lose coverage due to the lack of awareness of exemptions from work reporting requirements or due to burdensome documentation requirements.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Studies have shown that work requirements do not lead to an increase in employment, and that\u00a0the vast majority of\u00a0individuals receiving Medicaid are already working full or part-time, studying, caretaking, disabled, or are retired.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As a coalition of nearly 100 organizations representing Medicaid recipients, medical and social service providers, advocates, and community members, we commit to working with IL\u2019s Medicaid agency, Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), to mitigate the harms of implementation of H.R.1 in Illinois and ensure that as many of our community members as possible maintain their Medicaid coverage.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On June 1st, 2026, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued\u00a0an Interim Final Rule, providing guidance to states to implement Medicaid work requirements, which will go into effect in Illinois on January 1, 2027.\u00a0\u00a0 Contradicting\u00a0its previous communication to states and, in some instances the statutory language of H.R.1, the CMS rule\u00a0appears\u00a0very restrictive and\u00a0likely to pose such\u00a0burdens\u00a0to patients, providers, and states that\u00a0eligible individuals, including those with serious medical conditions, <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.protectourcareil.org\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/poc-il-statement-on-cms-issued-rule-implementing-medicaid-work-requirements\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>POC-IL Statement on CMS Issued Rule Implementing Medicaid Work Requirements - Protect Our Care IL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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