Connecticut Mirror: CT Plaintiffs Urge Biden to Rescind Trump-era Medicaid Cuts (August 17, 2022)

In response to a lawsuit filed by three disabled women in Connecticut over a Trump-era rule on Medicaid cuts, a top Democrat in the state Senate is calling on the Biden administration to rescind the regulation that critics say violates a law providing pandemic relief.

Disability advocates argue that the rule undermines the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act,” a law passed by Congress in March 2020 as one of the first responses to the pandemic. It stipulates that states receiving enhanced federal Medicaid funds can’t terminate or reduce a person’s benefits through the end of the month when the public health emergency ends, even if that person is no longer eligible. If they maintain that coverage, state Medicaid agencies receive an extra 6.2% in reimbursements.

“Any loss of Medicaid benefits disproportionately impacts low-income older adults of color, who are already most at risk of institutionalization and illness due to structural health inequities,” Carol Wong, associate litigation director of Justice in Aging, said in a statement.