A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has issued a partial summary judgment blocking Michigan’s new Medicaid work requirements, based on a higher court’s decision on similar requirements in other states.

Today’s ruling means Michigan cannot enforce the work requirements, which went into effect Jan. 1.

The decision by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg was termed a “great victory” by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer , who requested the summary judgment in a court filing last month.

Whitmer asks judge to throw out Healthy Michigan work requirements

Whitmer’s administration had previously urged the legislature to hold off on implementing the requirements while legal challenges were pending.

“I asked the legislature to pause because we knew this was going to happen, and they wouldn’t,” she said. “I’m grateful that the decision came in such a timely way so that we haven’t created a lot of unnecessary anxiety and waste of taxpayer dollars.”

Republican lawmakers have defended the law, which was passed in 2018 and signed into law by former Gov. Rick Snyder. It requires able-bodied adults receiving Medicaid under the Healthy Michigan Plan must do 20 hours per week, or 80 hours per month, of “workforce engagement” -- things like working or going to school.

Amber McCann, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, said he was "disappointed, but not surprised by this ruling."

“The Majority Leader’s support for the policy has not wavered,” she said. “He sincerely believes it is necessary to help people lead healthy lives and reach their highest personal productivity. Senator Shirkey is committed to working with the federal government to forge a path forward to maintain the goals of the work engagement policy.”

A lawsuit filed late last year by a coalition of state and national health-care advocates sought to stop the state from implementing the new requirements by arguing the federal approval for the state to implement them was invalid.

Related: Lawsuit challenges Michigan’s Medicaid work requirements

Whitmer has noted that similar work requirements in other states have been ruled illegal by the U.S. Court of Appeals.

In asking Boasberg for the summary judgment, she argued that since it was “inevitable” the courts will also find Michigan’s work requirements unlawful, "we should not move forward with implementation. Doing so would waste millions of taxpayer dollars and cause senseless confusion for tens of thousands of families.”

It’s the second time recently Whitmer has called for winding back the state’s work requirements. In December, she urged the legislature to suspend them before they started. The legislature declined to do so.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon previously said his department was implementing the law but called it an “unproductive exercise.”

“More time and stress for Michiganders complying with reporting requirements, more energy from our staff and partners implementing them, and more than $1 million each month funding these efforts, on top of more than $30 million spent already—all of this is going to be wasted,” Gordon said.

The case, Young v. Azar, was filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The plaintiffs are four Michigan residents represented by the Michigan Center for Civil Justice, National Health Law Program and the Michigan Poverty Law Program.

The defendants are U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Seema Verma, as well as U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Related:

Whitmer signs bill to change Medicaid work requirement reporting, says legislature should do more

Gov. Whitmer asks legislature to halt Medicaid work requirements

Michigan lawmakers to Whitmer: We’re not pausing Medicaid work requirements

Lawsuit challenges Michigan’s Medicaid work requirements