State Medicaid officials said Thursday they are still reviewing new federal guidelines that allow states to implement work requirements for able-bodied adults to receive Medicaid benefits.

The Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which administers the program in Illinois, said the “policy notice and its implications are under review.”

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Thursday announced new guidelines which allow states to seek federal approval for demonstration projects. The agency said those are projects “under which work or participation in other community engagement activities — including skills training, education, job search, volunteering or caregiving — would be a condition for Medicaid eligibility for able-bodied, working age adults.”

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Those projects would not include those who are eligible for Medicaid because of disability, nor would it cover the elderly, children or pregnant women.

The agency said 10 states have asked for permission to make work or community engagement a condition for receiving Medicaid benefits. They include Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin.

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