WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) issued the following statement today after a lawsuit was filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Health Law Program and the Kentucky Equal Justice Center to prevent Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin from implementing a Medicaid work requirement:   

“Gov. Matt Bevin should be applauded for attempting to rein in the out-of-control costs of the Medicaid program. Instead, he’s being sued,” said Sen. Kennedy.  “A work requirement for Medicaid doesn’t ask mothers with children in their arms to work.  It doesn’t ask the elderly to work.  It simply asks able-bodied adults to get a job, enroll in job training or do volunteer work in order to receive tax-payer funded Medicaid.  I don’t think that’s asking too much. Medicaid is supposed to help able-bodied adults become healthy and sufficient and be an off-ramp from poverty, not a parking lot.  A work requirement is a helping hand, not a slap in the face, and I support Gov. Bevin’s efforts to make it a reality.”

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