They said they received word late Thursday that the federal government says it needs more time to consider the adequacy of the implementation plan.

"They won't tell us when. They said they need more time. That's all they're willing to say," said Jack Devlin, a lawyer for the state Medicaid program known as the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.

A spokesman for the federal agency that oversees Medicaid did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The new partial freeze is among cost-saving measures that Gov. Jan Brewer's administration is implementing to help balance the state budget for the fiscal year that begins Friday.

Brewer welcomed the judge's ruling but "does not revel in this decision as she recognizes its real-world impacts on thousands of Arizonans," spokesman Matthew Benson said.

Brain's verbal order from the bench after an hourlong hearing only denies the request for a temporary restraining order. The opponents' overall case, including a request for a preliminary injunction, still moves forward, with a hearing scheduled in August.

And an attorney for the challengers indicated they may make a new request for a temporary restraining order in the meantime once people are actually barred from enrolling.

Brain had said in explaining his ruling that some of the challengers hadn't shown they'd be irreparably harmed if the freeze takes effect.

"Obviously we don't have anybody as plaintiffs who have been denied service yet or health benefits because they don't exist," said attorney Tom Hogan. "The minute this proposed (freeze) goes into effect and they start denying people, we'll add those people to this lawsuit."

Opponents say some of Arizona's planned changes violate state constitutional protections for voter-approved laws. Arizona voters passed a ballot measure in 2000 to increase eligibility for the state's Medicaid program above federal minimums.

State officials contend that the cutbacks are necessary to protect other vital state services from devastating cuts and that state-raised eligibility limits for AHCCCS can be changed because the 2000 law hinged on availability funding.

And it's in the Legislature's purview to decide whether money is available, said Joe Kanefield, an attorney helping defend the AHCCCS director. "When we're talking about the budget, we're talking about a core constitutional power that is given to the Legislature."

Without endorsing the state's course, federal Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has said Arizona can scale back portions of its Medicaid program that aren't federally mandated because the state program is coming up for regular reauthorization later this year.

However, the state needs federal clearance for specific plans to implement its planned changes.

The implementation plans include provisions on notifying affected people and ensuring that people losing eligibility under one of part of the program are able to remain in the program under another part.

A lawsuit challenging some of the state's planned changes, including the partial enrollment freeze, was filed Monday by public-interest law firms on behalf of low-income Arizonans.

"If persons eligible for AHCCCS health coverage are denied their benefits or are not allowed to apply for coverage, their lives will be forever altered," attorneys for the opponents argued in their request for a court order blocking the freeze.

That suit was filed after the Arizona Supreme Court on Friday rejected without comment a similar lawsuit that sought to bypass lower courts.

Estimates on how many Arizonans would be denied health care coverage under the state's planned changes range from 135,000 to 150,000. The overall program now serves 1.3 million people.

Two months ago, federal officials cleared a separate implementation plan for Arizona's gradual elimination of its small Medicaid program for people hammered by large medical expenses.