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A federal judge has declined to stop the Trump administration from requiring that chronically ill Medicaid patients prove that they are physically unable to work in order to keep their insurance. While the underlying case against the policy can continue, the ruling leaves the work requirement for low-income people on the program in place as states rush to meet a Jan. 1 implementation deadline. (Ollstein, 7/30)

Patients in Deaconess Illinois’ coverage area who previously carried some Medicaid coverage are losing it – even before the HR-1 Medicaid work requirements go into effect early next year – and a negative financial impact is already surfacing. William Davis, president of the Illinois region at Evansville, Ind.-based Deaconess Health System, is tracking Medicaid enrollment in real time. The current environment is not a risk on the horizon but as a problem already visible in the data. (Dyrda, 7/31)

Nebraska is just days away from becoming the first state to remove people from Medicaid for failing to meet new work requirements signed into law by President Trump last year. The state’s Medicaid Director Drew Gonshorowski told Tradeoffs in an interview that roughly 200 Nebraskans will lose their coverage on Aug. 1, though officials won’t know an exact figure until the end of July. (Wernau and Gorenstein, 7/30)

More and more uninsured patients are showing up in hospital emergency rooms and clinics, having lost their coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Executives running some of the biggest hospital systems, including large for-profit chains spanning many states, expressed concern over the unexpectedly sharp rise in uninsured patients and the costs associated with treating them. (Abelson, 7/30)