LITTLE ROCK- U.S. Department of Justice attorneys want a different judge to deciding a lawsuit challenging a work requirement for Arkansas' Medicaid program.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that a filing on Tuesday asks U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who decided a similar lawsuit in Kentucky, to turn down the assignment and have a judge chosen at random
The filing says the Arkansas case is related to the Kentucky case. Boasberg ruled in June that Kentucky's work requirement violates law because it doesn't consider how it would affect providing health coverage, which he said is the intent of the Medicaid program.
Both cases were filed in Washington, D.C., by the National Health Law Program and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Jonesboro-based Legal Aid of Arkansas is helping with the Arkansas case.