Washington, D.C. – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed an amicus brief in support of the appellees in two cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Stewart v. Azar and Gresham v. Azar. The brief urges the court to affirm the lower court’s holding that Kentucky and Arkansas’ Medicaid work requirements are impermissible, and highlights for the court the harmful effects of such requirements on communities of color.
“Work requirements are racially biased, unnecessarily limit access to healthcare and serve no legitimate purpose,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “Work requirement exemptions threaten to undo the progress achieved under the Affordable Care Act, which expanded Medicaid access to greater numbers of women and people of color. Given the stark racial health disparities in our country, we need to ensure that unnecessary barriers to health care coverage are eliminated so that vulnerable communities across our country can have better health outcomes.”
These cases are on appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which found that the states’ proposed Medicaid work requirements do not accomplish the key objective of Medicaid: ensuring coverage for the needy. Under these programs, Medicaid beneficiaries who do not fulfill the work requirements could lose their Medicaid coverage. In fact, over 18,000 beneficiaries in Arkansas lost their coverage when the work requirement program was in effect before the District Court struck it down.
The amicus brief focuses on the disproportionate impact Medicaid work requirements would have on low-income women and communities of color, who critically rely on Medicaid for their medical care and to lead healthy lives. These requirements are also an especially undue burden on women of color who have historically faced intersectional challenges to healthcare coverage, including being more likely to work in low-wage jobs that do not provide benefits. Additionally, the exemptions to the work requirements in Kentucky and Arkansas unfairly favor white Medicaid recipients because they are more likely to be eligible; in Kentucky, only predominantly white counties in the state have already been considered exempt from the work requirement program.
In addition to the Lawyers’ Committee, the brief is joined by the National Women’s Law Center. Holland & Knight LLP served as counsel for amici curiae.
A link to the brief can be found here.
About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. Now in its 56th year, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is continuing its quest to “Move America Toward Justice.” The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice for all, particularly in the areas of criminal justice, fair housing and community development, economic justice, educational opportunities, and voting rights.
Contact
Reynolds Graves, Lawyers’ Committee, RGraves@LawyersCommittee.org, 202-662-8375