In just several months’ time, since September, Arkansas has kicked nearly 17,000 people off of Medicaid, including 4,655 who lost coverage at the beginning of December.
They were all enrollees of the state's Medicaid expansion program, Arkansas Works, and lost their coverage because of the work requirements the Trump administration allowed the state to impose on their continued participation. Up until this week, all participants had been required to report 80 hours of "work activity" every month, but the only option for them to report is through a website that shuts down every single night from 9:00 PM to 7:00 AM for "scheduled maintenance."
That's one of the reasons the state is being sued by people who've been kicked out of the program. The suit might be one of the reasons that, as of this week, there's now a help line available to beneficiaries to report their hours by phone. Of course, the phone line also won't be available overnight, making it super convenient for people on complicated work shifts.
One good thing for these people: They could regain their insurance in the new year because the clock resets. Beneficiaries who don't report 80 hours of work in any three months in the calendar year are dropped, but can reapply for coverage again as of January 1, when a new three-month clock kicks in. The state has been slap-dash in informing people who are in danger of losing their coverage, but maybe it’ll do a better job of letting people know they can apply again.