Governor Kotek Organizes Multi-State Pushback Against Chaotic Federal Medicaid Mandate

Salem, OR – Governor Tina Kotek is leading governors from across the country, including Michigan, Washington, New York, Maine, and New Mexico, calling on the Trump Administration to stop forcing states into an unworkable rollout of new Medicaid requirements passed by Congressional Republicans last year.

In a letter sent today to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., governors warned that states are being required to overhaul complex eligibility and technology systems without the clear federal guidance needed to implement the changes responsibly. The governors are urging the administration to provide immediate written guidance, allow for reasonable implementation flexibility, and ensure final rules align with informal policy direction signaled by the administration before the policy takes effect in January 2027.

“States are being asked to carry out a complicated federal mandate without clear rules, without enough time, and with the risk that eligible people lose health care because of paperwork problems and system failures,” Governor Kotek said. “The Trump Administration created this chaos, and states are now being left to manage the consequences.”

The governors’ letter highlights the substantial operational and financial challenges states face in updating Medicaid eligibility systems, coordinating with technology vendors, training staff, and ensuring beneficiaries receive accurate information and due process protections during implementation.

Governors also raised concerns that millions of Americans could be harmed by administrative barriers rather than actual ineligibility for coverage, including hundreds of thousands of Oregonians.

The governors are requesting that the federal government provide formal responses to states’ outstanding implementation questions by June 1, 2026, and allow additional time if forthcoming federal rules differ from the working assumptions states have already been forced to operationalize in the absence of official guidance.

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