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Thousands of adults in Arkansas lost insurance coverage in the first six months after Medicaid work requirements were implemented, with no change in employment, according to a  published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers found that the policy was associated with significant reductions in coverage for the 30-49 year olds targeted by the policy. “We didn’t find any employment changes and instead we see Medicaid coverage rates dropping and more people without health insurance – usually because the process itself was confusing or beneficiaries didn’t even know about the new requirements,” lead author Benjamin Sommers, a professor of health policy and economics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. A federal judge halted Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas and Kentucky in March.