Have Medicaid? New Michigan bill may force you to work
The full
The bill would require able-bodied adults who receive Medicaid health care coverage to either work at least 29 hours a week or be enrolled in a job training or education program. They would have to report their family income monthly to the state and within 10 days if there are any changes to that income.
There are exemptions for an individual who is the sole caretaker of a family member under age 6 or a family member who is disabled, pregnant, receiving long-term disability benefits, a full-time student or a person undergoing substance abuse treatment.
"Let's not lose the fact that there is dignity in work. I remember back when there were very strong reforms with welfare and protesters were saying it was going to be the end of the world. Whenever we hear that over-the-top screaming and yelling, it never seems to come to fruition," said
But
"I can't help my son and daughter-in-law in paying off their debt with money, but I can help keep their child-care costs at a minimum," she said. "I am on government assistance for health care coverage. But if I have to choose between a paying job, instead of grandsons, I'd choose to go without health insurance. This will leave many children in unsafe conditions and rob them of their caregivers."
State Sen.
"The best safety net ever invented by God is family. I'm not sure that government is supposed to supplement that process," he said. "I think the fact that she's available to do so is awesome, but I don't think those kinds of exemptions would qualify. The safety net by definition has a few holes in it."
"Healthy
"This will increase an undue burden on business and be a significant financial cost to the state," she said, noting the cost to police the work schedules of thousands of low-income Michiganders. "And this harms families who are already on the edge."
The movement toward requiring work for Medicaid coverage is growing across the nation with three states already requiring work for benefits and the administration of President
In
"The inferences that the sky is falling are a bit overplayed," he said. "But anyone who expects (the work requirement hours) to stay at 29 is delusional, including me. I think there is room to move."
That was good news for Sen.
"I understand the math -- that not only this committee but the full
In
"We urge any consideration of the measure be postponed until the state is able to conduct the analysis needed to provide a comprehensive assessment of how many Michiganders might lose health coverage under such a proposal," the letter stated.
They noted that a
"Among enrollees not currently working, 80 percent had a chronic physical or mental health condition," the letter said. "Cutting off health coverage for struggling people will undercut the historic gains our state has made in covering the uninsured through the bipartisan Medicaid expansion."
The Healthy Michigan program was narrowly passed by the Legislature in 2013 and has since enrolled more than 670,000 low income Michiganders who can now receive health care coverage.
The bill -- SB 897 -- now moves to the full
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