CT hospitals expected to lose hundreds of millions of dollars due to Medicaid work requirements

Hartford Courant – Thursday, August 20, 2026
By Livi Stanford

Connecticut hospital officials are anticipating the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars as a result of new federal work requirements for Medicaid recipients.

Lawmakers and hospital officials said the losses could result in cuts to services as 164,000 state residents, representing 52% on Medicaid, are expected to lose their coverage.

Connecticut hospitals have for years reported financial challenges resulting from stagnant Medicaid reimbursement rates to rising inflation and medication costs.

Due to the new Medicaid work requirements, enacted in President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, or HR 1, approximately 35% of the adult enrollees in the HUSKY D program are at risk of losing their Medicaid coverage, the Connecticut Department of Social Services has said. Officials say they expect many who continue to be eligible under the new rules are expected to lose coverage as a result of administrative challenges of proving eligibility every six months.

For hospitals, the implications of the new work requirements are “devastating,” Mark Schaefer, vice president assistant innovation and financing for the Connecticut Hospital Association, said.

“We are looking at patients not having access to preventive services and early intervention services, the things that they go to the doctor for to prevent an acute event,” said Schaefer. “They are going to end up in the hospital. It is bad for patients, bad for the community, and bad for hospitals.”

The new requirements, which go into effect on Jan. 1 for new applications and renewals in March 2027, require HUSKY D recipients to earn $580 a month or spend 80 hours per month working, participating in certain work programs or community service, or be enrolled in an educational program at least half time, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Several lawmakers said the state would not be able to absorb long term the loss of revenue as cases formerly billed to HUSKY instead beomes uncompensated care.

“I am concerned that the feds do not have a plan for how the states are going to absorb the cuts and that can have serious implications on funding for healthcare, especially at hospitals,” said Sen. Jeff Gordon, a Woodstock Republican and physician, who serves on the state’s Public Health Committee. “I haven’t seen that the state can start picking it up. Maybe we can do a stopgap for a little bit, but given our budgets and everything else we have to fund at the core of government services we are not going to have the money long term.”

Gordon said he is concerned if the feds do not reconsider changes to HR 1, it will negatively impact patient care.

Sen. Saud Anwar, a South Windsor Democrat, who is also a physician serving as co-chair of the Public Health Committee, said hospitals are already struggling with lack of staffing and appropriate compensation for workers.

“The amount of uncompensated care is going to go up significantly,” Anwar said.

Adding this new federal work requirement to the list of challenges, Anwar said, will result in a large number of sicker patients coming to the ER.

“So, the fear is that some of the hospitals may have to cut down services and reduce their total footprint of care,” he said. “What we may end up seeing is that we will have a large number of our population without Medicaid coverage, and we will not be able to provide them the care. That may be a disaster for their well-being.”

Tina Varona, senior director of media relations for Hartford HealthCare, said while Hartford HealthCare is “assessing the full impact of any proposed Medicaid eligibility changes,” it “remains committed to caring for everyone who comes through our doors.

“No patient is turned away regardless of their ability to pay,” she said. “Our focus continues to be expanding access to high-quality care in the communities we serve through investments in primary care, urgent care, virtual care, and innovative community-based programs.”

More than 30% of the patients served by Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford either rely on Medicaid for their health coverage or do not have health insurance, according to a spokesperson for Trinity Health of New England, parent company of Saint Francis Hospital.

Trinity Health of New England’s focus is on “helping patients maintain coverage, navigate changes and providing support throughout the enrollment and renewal processes,” the spokesperson said.

Similar to other hospitals, the spokesperson said, Trinity Health of New England was “managing substantial financial pressures including significant reimbursement cuts, low reimbursement that does not cover the true cost of care, increasing inflation, staffing shortages and the rising costs of care for underinsured and uninsured patients.

“We have a responsibility to remain operationally and financially sustainable, and we are thoughtful and deliberate as we consider new ways to reduce costs while sustaining the safe, accessible and affordable high-quality care our communities depend on,” the spokesperson said. “These challenges are significant. It is not possible to simply absorb such financial impact without making thoughtful, forward-thinking changes.”

Ben Wade, senior vice president of strategy & marketing, and chief strategy officer for Stamford Health, said he anticipated that federal Medicaid changes could impact between 4,000 and 8,000 residents in the communities it serves in 2027.

He said even more residents could be impacted given the new interim final rule from CMS.

“Coverage losses would lead to delayed care, poorer health outcomes and a likely increase in uncompensated care,” he said. “Stamford Health already provides more than $170 million in uncompensated care annually.”

In March, Wade said, “Stamford Health launched a task force with the city of Stamford and other community organizations to proactively educate residents about new Medicaid requirements, provide hands-on enrollment and renewal assistance and help eligible individuals navigate work, training and exemption pathways.”

A UConn Health spokesperson said the academic medical center is expanding its footprint of “both community and business partnerships as they navigate the increased work requirements for ongoing eligibility and enrollment.”

Access this article at its original source.