The Chicago-based American Medical Association and eight other physician organizations joined a legal challenge to CMS regulations that could make it harder for individuals with substance use disorders and other serious medical conditions to qualify for an exemption from Medicaid work requirements.
The groups filed an amicus brief in Taylor v. Kennedy, a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The AMA and the Maryland State Medical Society, known as MedChi, led the brief, which supports the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and asks the court to vacate the challenged provisions, the AMA said Oct. 27.
HR 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, exempts medically frail individuals from the work requirements, which take effect in 2027. That category includes people with substance use disorders. CMS’ regulations also require those individuals to show their condition significantly impairs their ability to comply. The physician groups argue Congress never authorized that added standard.
The brief also challenges limits on states’ ability to accept patients’ self-attestation of medical frailty. The groups argue the limits could force patients to obtain more documentation and cause eligible people to lose coverage. They also warn physicians could be left assessing exemption eligibility without clear clinical standards, pulling time away from patient care.
AMA President Willie Underwood III, MD, said patients with serious or complex conditions “should not lose their health coverage because of unnecessary administrative barriers.” Dr. Underwood said losing Medicaid can interrupt treatment and cut off access to essential medications.
The American Society of Addiction Medicine, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, Association for Clinical Oncology and American Thoracic Society also joined the brief.
The filing follows AMA-backed amicus briefs in Massachusetts v. Oz, the challenge 25 states and Washington, D.C., brought against the rule this summer. Medicaid expansion covers about 20 million Americans.
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