Federal Judge Vacates CMS Rule Impairing Medicaid Work Reporting Exemptions for Medically Frail Individuals

A federal judge on October 29, 2026, issued a critical ruling that vacates a provision of an interim final rule by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). This CMS rule had made it significantly harder for medically frail individuals to qualify for exclusions from Medicaid work reporting requirements, despite congressional intent to protect these groups under the 2025 budget reconciliation law, H.R. 1.