Oregon sues Trump administration over Medicaid work requirements
Oregon sues Trump administration over Medicaid work requirements
Anastasia Mason, Salem Statesman JournalFri, November 6, 2026 at 1:29 AM UTC
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Oregon on Nov. 5 sued the Trump administration over upcoming changes to Medicaid that the Oregon Health Authority previously warned could impact benefits for around 600,000 Oregonians.
Oregon Health Plan recipients aged 19 to 64 will be required to meet new work requirements, with some exceptions, as part of the 2025 federal reconciliation bill.
The Oregon Health Authority estimated about a third, or about 182,000 of the roughly 564,000 people subject to the new requirements in Oregon could lose coverage, according to the Oregon Department of Justice.
The new work requirements, which do not apply to people who have Medicare, serious health issues or children under 14, are among several other changes set to begin taking effect in 2027.
People subject to the work requirements will also have to renew their benefits more frequently, every six months. Most other recipients of the Oregon Health Plan will need to renew once a year. Most recipients currently have to renew once every two years.
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The lawsuit, joined by Minnesota, New Mexico and Washington, was filed in U.S. District Court in Oregon against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and their respective leaders, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Mehmet Oz.
The states said in the lawsuit people will lose health coverage because they either cannot meet the work requirements or cannot keep up with the reporting requirements. The changes exceed Congress' authority, they argued, because they make Medicaid funding dependent on different conditions than the states had agreed to.
"It would be the height of bureaucratic cruelty to rip away someone’s life-saving health care just because of unreasonable paperwork," Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a statement. "And yet, that’s exactly what Trump’s bill does. This is an unconstitutional action by the President, and we will take the steps necessary to stop him—and to protect health care access for thousands upon thousands of Oregonians."
The states asked the court to block the federal government from pulling funding from states that do not comply with the work requirements.
Anastasia Mason covers state government for the Statesman Journal. Reach her at acmason@statesmanjournal.com or 971-208-5615.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon sues Trump administration over Medicaid work requirements
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