“Subject to the full federal review process, CMS (the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) will support state efforts to test incentives that make participation in work or other community engagement a requirement for continued Medicaid eligibility or coverage for certain adult Medicaid beneficiaries in demonstration projects authorized under section 1115 of the Social Security Act”, the letter said.
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Submitted in 2016, Kentucky’s waiver requires able-bodied adults to complete 20 hours a week of so-called “community engagement” – which could include working, volunteering, or going to school – in order to maintain Medicaid coverage.
Ten states – Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Utah and Wisconsin – have already requested a waiver from CMS so they can add work requirements to Medicaid.
The Trump administration will allow states for the first time to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients.
Opponents say the change will prevent people from getting the health care they deserve. More than 60 percent of the non-working Medicaid recipients were women, according to Kaiser; 17 percent were parents with children under age 6. If you’re not able to meet the work requirement, you could potentially qualify through other activities, such as volunteering.
ME is one of ten states asking for a waiver from the Federal Department of Health and Human Services.
“There’s absolutely nothing that requires the exemption of people with addiction”, Rosenbaum said. But Rosenbaum notes the absurdity of arguing that keeping people from health care will make them more likely to be able to work. Some may end up being disqualified from the jobs they opt to do.
Bevin said that requiring able-bodied recipients to work, to give something in return for the insurance they’re receiving, gives them dignity, respect and an opportunity to escape from a “dead-end entitlement trap”. Of those who aren’t working, many have care-giving responsibilities that either they would have to abandon or states would have to accept as the equivalent of work outside the home, after a lot of complex and expensive administrative hassle. By helping low-income individuals gain employment or further their skills, the Kentucky HEALTH program will put individuals and families on a path toward success, allowing them to eventually rise from poverty and no longer have to rely on the Medicaid program.
If employees lose Medicaid, get sick and can’t make it to work, she says that’s bad for business. Some 60% of non-disabled, working-age adults have jobs, while almost 80% live in families with at least one member in the labor force, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.
“I am pleased to see that the Trump administration has recognized the value of the Kentucky HEALTH proposal and has approved Kentucky’s Medicaid waiver application”, said Guthrie. The difference this time around is that the federal government will recognize it.
Ultimately, the most obvious effect from imposing work requirements in Medicaid will be to deprive more people of the health coverage they need to live healthy, productive lives. Between 2014 and 2015, almost 6,900 adults lost food stamps after work requirements took effect in that benefit program.
Local reaction was subdued Friday after Gov. Matt Bevin announced Kentucky earned federal approval to implement work requirements for Medicaid benefits.
One critical issue that will affect the fallout from the Medicaid work requirements is the makeup of the Medicaid program itself, the critics say.
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In its May 2017 budget proposal, the Trump administration stated its intention to allow states to manage how they administer Medicaid programs.
