Judge Blocks CMS’s “Medical Frailty” Restrictions, Providing Temporary Relief to Millions of Eligible Medicaid Enrollees at Risk of Losing Coverage - Families USA Skip to Main Content
10.29.2026 / Statement

Judge Blocks CMS’s “Medical Frailty” Restrictions, Providing Temporary Relief to Millions of Eligible Medicaid Enrollees at Risk of Losing Coverage

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to a federal judge blocking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)’s “medical frailty” portion of the 2025 Republican budget law (H.R. 1), which it ruled would unfairly cause eligible Medicaid enrollees to lose their health coverage, Anthony Wright, Families USA executive director, issued the following statement: 

“The court appropriately blocked the administration’s attempt to broaden the already heinous Republican health care budget law, which will restrict health care access for millions. The Trump administration’s final rule would have made it exponentially more difficult for a person to qualify for Medicaid under a medical frailty exemption, potentially cutting them off from life-sustaining care. This ruling will make a real difference for millions of eligible Medicaid enrollees who would have lost their coverage because of the Trump administration’s illegal interpretation of the law. 

“The court decision brings a welcome reprieve and further illustrates why the Trump administration should delay the start of Medicaid work reporting requirements set to begin two short months from now.  Training state workers to understand the post-ruling changes will take more than two months, let alone informing millions of medically frail patients and their providers. Anticipating these and other implementation challenges, Congress specifically included in the law a provision to allow the administration to grant waivers to delay the start of these new bureaucratic barriers for up to two years. As CMS’s own rules have caused chaos and confusion for states, providers and patients, the administration must grant a blanket waiver for all states to delay implementation. Today’s win shows that state legal challenges can yield impactful results. More states can and should join the fight to challenge illegal and rogue actions taken by the administration.”