Nearly two dozen Section 1115 waiver requests are pending at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at a time when the Trump Administration has signaled a willingness to help states reshape their Medicaid programs through waivers. The direction of new waivers represents a shift to more restrictive rules for Medicaid eligibility and coverage promoting policies conservatives favor for Medicaid.

Medicaid work requirements recently approved for Kentucky and sought by nine other states have attracted the most attention. Other waiver elements approved for Kentucky and requested by other states include provisions such as coverage lock-outs for failure to timely renew eligibility and new requirements to report changes in circumstances or pay required premiums, all of which are expected to contribute to decreased enrollment. Key provisions pending in other states include coverage time limits and drug testing. States’ pending waivers seek to impose restrictions on traditional Medicaid populations (including parents of low-income children) as well as on the Medicaid expansion population.

On Friday, February 2, the Kaiser Family Foundation held a reporters-only web briefing to explore these and other provisions in states’ waivers and examine the implications for state Medicaid programs and the people they serve. The briefing included time for questions from journalists.

Panelists included Robin Rudowitz and MaryBeth Musumeci, both of whom are associate directors for KFF’s Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured.