OPINION: Gov. Snyder should veto awful Medicaid work rules. Here’s why.
And it's not about helping Michiganders.
Work requirements for Medicaid recipients, passed by both chambers of the
Snyder should veto this legislation, which will create life-threatening hardship for the working poor who receive these benefits.
S.B. 897 isn't quite as awful now as in its original iteration. The revised S.B. 897 will subject only recipients of Healthy Michigan benefits to the work requirements. (That's what
But it is still awful.
About 540,000 Michiganders will be subjected to this requirement, at a projected administrative cost of roughly
About 40% of able-bodied Healthy Michigan recipients already work, a
The legislation makes exceptions for the disabled, pregnant women, or those who provide care for children under 6 or disabled persons. Among those not exempted are disabled people who have applied for but not yet received that designation from the
And for a lot of folks juggling jobs, transit deficits, kids, elderly relatives, or health problems that don't rise to the level of disability, documenting that they're already working is one more detail to keep track of, a dehumanizing requirement with grave consequences for error.
Or not.
Since the
Lawyers describe long delays in applications for disability status -- refusal on first application are routine, and at present, the wait for a hearing in
But what sticks with me is something
"Every one of these reasons to deny you healthcare kills people," he said. "It might only kill 10 people or 50 people or 100 people, but when there are delays in accessing health care, there are victims."
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