EDITORIAL: The contorted logic of allowing states to require work as a condition for Medicaid
The policies will inevitably cause more low-income people to lose the health coverage they depend on, whether it's to be seen by the doctor or to afford prescription medications needed to treat chronic conditions. Yet in a contortion of logic, the Trump administration has tried to justify the move by arguing that work requirements could actually improve the health of the Medicaid-eligible population.
Gov.
When more than 10,000 people lost access to food assistance, they didn't only contribute to
A newly released report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities examines the impact of the
People living in food-insecure households spend 45 percent more on medical costs each year than comparable people who aren't having trouble putting enough food on the table, according to the center's summary of available research on SNAP and health. There's also a strong correlation between experiencing food insecurity and having a chronic illness.
Access to SNAP, the research concluded, reduced the likelihood of food insecurity by 30 percent, freeing up a limited resources in a household that its members can then spend on improving their health.
Unsurprisingly, SNAP recipients are more likely to report that they're in good or excellent health than low-income people not receiving SNAP. And the recipients spend 25 percent less on medical care than low-income people not receiving SNAP.
Work requirements that resulted in 10,000 people losing access to food assistance, then, inevitably harmed the health of thousands of low-income adults in
If work requirements in a food assistance program are likely to lead to a diminished state of health for thousands of low-income adults, it's not hard to imagine the damaging health effects of imposing work requirements in a benefit program designed explicitly to ensure that the poorest among us can access health care.
The Trump administration's logic for approving state requests for Medicaid work requirements simply doesn't pass muster and shouldn't be allowed to stand.
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