Medicaid
work
requirements
—
provisions
that
would
require
Medicaid
enrollees
to
work
or
volunteer
in
order
to
maintain
coverage
—
have
reemerged
in
health
policy
conversations
in
an
effort
to
reduce
federal
Medicaid
spending.
Just
last
week,
Senators
John
Kennedy
(R-Louisiana)
and
Eric
Schmitt
(R-Missouri)
introduced
a
bill
that
would
require
“able-bodied
adults”
without
dependents
to
work
or
volunteer
for
at
least
20
hours
per
week
to
receive
Medicaid
benefits,
according
to
the
announcement.
The
bill,
called
the
Jobs
and
Opportunities
for
Medicaid
Act,
could
save
taxpayers
more
than
$100
billion
over
10
years,
the
senators
claimed.
“Medicaid
doesn’t
work
the
way
it
should,”
Kennedy
said
in
a
statement.
“Able-bodied
adults
without
dependents
are
better
off
with
jobs
than
with
hand-outs,
and
so
are
their
communities
and
American
taxpayers.
My
Jobs
and
Opportunities
for
Medicaid
Act
would
help
pave
a
path
out
of
poverty
for
millions
of
Americans.”
Schmitt
argued
that
work
requirements
would
allow
Medicaid
to
“serve
as
a
bridge
to
self-sufficiency,
fostering
pathways
to
employment,
job
training,
and
community
engagement.”
He
added
that
the
bill
would
help
Medicaid
beneficiaries
gain
“financial
independence”
and
would
save
resources
for
the
most
vulnerable
populations,
such
as
children,
the
elderly
and
people
with
disabilities.
The
announcement
also
stated
that
there
has
been
a
decrease
in
the
labor
force
participation
rate
since
2000,
but
the
number
of
able-bodied
adults
enrolled
in
Medicaid
has
risen.
However,
if
Medicaid
work
requirements
were
in
place,
an
estimated
36
million
Medicaid
enrollees
could
be
at
risk
of
losing
coverage,
according
to
an
analysis
from
the
Center
on
Budget
and
Policy
Priorities
(CBPP).
The
organization
argued
that
work
requirements
don’t
increase
employment
and
would
just
add
administrative
barriers
for
Medicaid
beneficiaries
and
lead
to
coverage
losses
for
those
between
jobs.
“Policymakers
should
reject
work
requirements,”
CBPP
said.
“Instead
of
needlessly
putting
tens
of
millions
of
people
at
risk
of
losing
health
coverage
by
saddling
them
with
red
tape
and
one-size-fits-all
requirements
that
can
make
it
harder
for
people
to
work,
lawmakers
should
make
it
easier
and
less
costly
for
people
to
access
health
coverage.”
A
recent
report
by
KFF
shows
that
the
majority
of
Medicaid
adults
under
the
age
of
65
were
working
in
2023.
About
44%
were
working
full-time
and
20%
were
working
part-time.
The
remainder
were
not
working
due
to
caregiving,
attending
school,
a
disability,
retirement
or
inability
to
find
work.
KFF
also
found
that
those
in
better
health
and
with
more
education
were
more
likely
to
be
working.
Several
states
have
tried
to
implement
Medicaid
work
requirements
through
Section
1115
waivers,
according
to
KFF.
The
first
Trump
administration
approved
waivers
in
13
states,
but
many
of
these
were
struck
down
in
courts.
Georgia
is
currently
the
only
state
with
a
work
requirement
waiver
in
place.
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