Five Medicaid enrollees, six provider and advocacy groups and the city of Columbus, Ohio, filed a lawsuit Sept. 18 challenging a federal rule they say illegally narrows Medicaid protections for people with serious and chronic health conditions.
The suit, Taylor et al. v. Kennedy Jr. et al., was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland against HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other administration officials. Plaintiffs include the American College of Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, Doctors for America and New Hampshire Medical Society. They are represented by the National Health Law Program and Democracy Forward.
The lawsuit challenges an interim final rule implementing new Medicaid work requirements under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Congress categorically exempted medically frail beneficiaries from the requirements, but plaintiffs argue the rule adds an unauthorized “back-door” condition — requiring enrollees to prove not just that they are medically frail, but that their condition “significantly impairs” their ability to meet work requirements. That additional bar, they argue, is not in the underlying statute.
American College of Physicians President Jan Carney, MD, said the rule forces physicians into an inappropriate role: “As physicians, we are trained to diagnose and treat our patients’ medical conditions, not to conduct assessments about a given patient’s ability to work.”
This is a separate case from Massachusetts v. Oz, filed in June by 25 states and the District of Columbia, challenging the same rule. A federal judge denied a preliminary injunction in that case in July; the merits are expected to be decided before the work requirements take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
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