By admin 
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is suing a federal Medicaid agency trying to implement work requirements for the state’s sickest people, including patients living with stage four cancer or multiple sclerosis.
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“These are the sickest people in our state, so these are cancer, muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, I mean, really all of the most severe illnesses,” Jackson said.
The 74-page lawsuit, signed by Attorneys General across the country, looks to stop the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, also known as CMS, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from implementing work requirements for certain Medicaid recipients.
When Congress passed President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, it included work requirements for some Medicaid recipients, but carved out exceptions for extremely sick people, such as those battling late-stage cancers or life-threatening diseases.
Jackson says the federal agency is now trying to ignore those protections.
“[The lawsuit is] targeted at the federal Medicaid agency that said ‘we’re going to ignore what Congress said,’” Jackson said. “All we’re saying is ‘you have to do exactly what Congress said, which is protecting the most seriously ill people in our state.’”
For DeAnna Brandon, the decision could be a matter of life or death.
“If I really thought about it all, I don’t know if I would be able to get up and survive at all, if I really thought about it,” she said.
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Brandon has an incurable form of blood cancer. She’s in remission right now but has bi-weekly maintenance treatments, including injections and dozens of medications. Brandon says holding a job is impossible.
“Even if it’s at home, the side effects of the medications I get every two weeks, plus I take 20 medications a day at home for other illnesses and for the cancer issues, so with all of those side effects of the medications and of what I’m dealing with, I’m never reliable enough to keep a job,” she said.
Brandon says if the requirements go into effect, she’ll lose her Medicaid coverage, will have to stop treatments, and risk going out of remission. She’s advocating alongside Jackson for the protections, saying she’s one of tens of thousands of people who need the consideration.
“I’ve had a grandma that passed away before I was born, and my sister both passed away from cancer around the age of 50, and they never had a chance to have their voices heard. So I’m not only speaking up for me, but them, and others across the nation that know it’s important to survive to be here for as long as we can for our families,” Brandon said.
The lawsuit does not look to end all work requirements, but rather just keep protections in place for the sickest people.
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