4 things to know about Michigan’s Medicaid work requirements
From a lawsuit that could stop
Here are four things to remember when talking about
The legal landscape
First, to be clear,
There is no guarantee the federal
But
Meanwhile, the Trump administration argues it has the authority to allow the work requirements and the state of
How many would be affected
The prospect of work requirements for Medicaid recipients in more than a dozen states has many advocates for the poor up in arms, saying millions could have their health care jeopardized. Roughly 15 million people are believed to have received coverage under the Medicaid expansion authorized under the Affordable Care Act -- otherwise known as Obamacare -- and there are even a handful of states asking for permission to apply work and other requirements to more traditional Medicaid populations. The proposals being made by the states and how many hours people could be required to work vary widely. If these rules were to spread across that population, it might have wide-ranging effects involving millions of beneficiaries.
In
But then, even among those able-bodied adults who would have to meet the work requirement, there are questions about how many of them are already working: In a report this week, the nonpartisan
At the same time, the same report also notes that many Medicaid adults don't have computer access or email and could have trouble verifying their work, leading to gaps in their coverage; others could be limited in their ability to understand the requirements they're being asked to report, leading to mistakes that could take months to rectify, and still others may be in seasonal or part-time work with hours that fluctuate wildly throughout the year.
"You're talking about a very narrow slice of people but the states will need to develop an infrastructure (to verify work or exemptions) for the entire population," said
Lessons from other states
Whatever
But only one of those four --
"With any program that's this large and has never been done before, there's going to be some bumps along the way," said
As for
As for how
The political reality
For all the harm and potential confusion that may be created by work requirements in
Those political considerations -- including conservative concerns and public attitudes about spending on social programs -- must be dealt with, one way or another, in many right-leaning states and state legislatures, if there is going to be new or continued Medicaid expansion programs.
For instance,
A similar situation appears to be playing out in
With Medicaid consuming a large portion of state budgets -- as high as 20% nationally -- "it's more than important to make sure it has political support and sustainability," said
And that's true, he said, even if it subjects only a small number of people to find work. "That symbolism," he said, "is important from a political sustainability viewpoint."
Contact
___
(c)2018 the Detroit Free Press
Visit the Detroit Free Press at www.freep.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Recent Findings from Federal University Has Provided New Information about Health Insurance (Utilization of basic health units of FHS according to…
Mine subsidence insurance, info available through new DEP website
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News