Kentucky's Medicaid waiver passed in this year's legislative session would implement a community engagement program with the aim of connecting some participants with education and job assistance opportunities.
That shouldn't be confused with the new Medicaid requirements being debated as part of the Trump administration's signature spending bill.
Stephanie Bates with the Legislative Research Commission says the two waivers have one big difference.
"The Kentucky 1115 waiver that's submitted, or getting ready to be submitted, does not impact eligibility," she said in a hearing this week. "And then the federal the federal reconciliation bill... that community engagement waiver does impact eligibility if you don't perform community engagement, which is working, volunteering, or going to school eighty hours a month."
Kentucky's program would apply to adults in the state's Medicaid expansion who have been enrolled for more than a year and are between 19 and 60, able to work, and not primarily responsible for the care of a dependent child or disabled adult.
Bates said the approval process for Kentucky's more modest waiver may have to be changed if lawmakers in Washington pass their work requirements.