Law Commons^™

Medicaid Waivers, Administrative Authority, And The Shadow Of Malingering, Nicole Huberfeld

Faculty Scholarship

From 2018 through 2020, HHS approved state Medicaid demonstration waivers to impose new eligibility conditions such as work requirements, connecting current “personal responsibility” rhetoric and historical suspicion of malingering. The Biden administration reversed course but advocated to the Supreme Court for expansive administrative discretion. This approach supports health equity now but could enable reemergence of restrictive health policies down the road.