Center for American Progress: Rescission of Medicaid Work Requirement Will Promote Greater Access to Health Coverage for Most Vulnerable

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 -- The Center for American Progress issued the following news release on Feb. 12, 2021:

According to multiple news reports, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will announce that it is reversing Medicaid work requirement rules put in place by President Donald Trump. The rescission follows an executive order to protect and strengthen Medicaid signed by President Joe Biden last month and years of court challenges over the rules' legality.

Maura Calsyn, interim vice president of Health Policy at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement:

"This decision affirms President Biden's commitment to ensuring all Americans, regardless of income, have a right to high-quality, affordable health coverage. The previous administration's work requirements were in direct conflict with the core objectives of the Medicaid program and resulted in thousands of Americans losing access to coverage. This decision will ensure working families have the security they need to take care of their health needs in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and the opportunity to find work."

Alexandra Cawthorne Gaines, vice president of the Poverty to Prosperity Program at CAP, released the following statement:

"Work requirements have never been about helping people find a job. Instead, this is a punitive policy approach used to deny food, health care, and other supports to people who are struggling, particularly people with disabilities. And because being hungry and stressed makes it harder to find a job, work requirements could lead to worse employment outcomes. President Biden's action today will not only ensure that thousands of Americans have health care during a pandemic, but will hopefully be an important first step in eliminating work requirements across poverty alleviation programs."