In January, Kentucky governor Matthew Bevin announced changes to the state's Medicaid program. Relying on newly granted flexibility from the Trump administration, the Bluegrass State would now require, among other things, that childless, able-bodied adults work or engage in some other productive activity in order to receive Medicaid benefits. Within days, a coalition of liberal activist groups, including the dubious Southern Poverty Law Center, filed a class action lawsuit to block Bevin's Medicaid reforms.
While the lawsuit focuses entirely on the alleged harm that would befall Kentucky residents as a result of the new program, neither Governor Bevin nor any other Kentucky official is named as a defendant. Rather, the groups are suing only federal officials—ensuring their access to the Obama-packed D.C. Circuit courts—on the unusual theory that the federal government violated its own statutes and the Constitution by granting Kentucky too much regulatory freedom. In February, Governor Bevin filed a rival lawsuit in Kentucky federal court, seeking a declaration that his Medicaid plan is legal. Both lawsuits are proceeding along separate tracks.
