Public commenters oppose Medicaid work waiver
The revised Medicaid Workforce Training Initiative Demonstration Waiver focuses on a small group of working age adults on the Mississippi Medicaid rolls. Through
"Despite the name, this seems like a paltry way to save the state a few dollars at the expense of too many Mississippians...I am unclear what I as a Mississippian gain from this initiative, and it appears my fellow Mississippians will lose too much," one commenter, identified as
"The waiver is not designed to be a barrier to care," a Medicaid spokesman said in written responses to
The waiver exempts children under 19, pregnant women, the disabled and those over 65 from work requirements. It primarily affects very poor parents and caregivers of other Medicaid recipients, about 57,000 of its 750,000 Mississippi Medicaid beneficiaries. Within that group, parents of children under 6, students, caregivers for the disabled and mentally ill, those diagnosed with mental illness and those in treatment for addiction or cancer would be exempted.
Those making public comments said the waiver doesn't address the issues that would make it difficult for poor families juggling caregiving duties.
"Through work I've done in the
Many of the commenters pointed to
"I believe a work initiative is a valid requirement only if you are paying the participants a decent living wage," wrote one respondent who did not include a name in the viewable comments. "Since minimum wage is at
The revised waiver includes an extension of transitional medical assistance for those whose income rises while they are meeting the requirements. Currently, 12 months of transitional medical assistance is available to any Medicaid beneficiaries if their income level rises.
"The idea is TMA is available to help them transition to other forms of health insurance," the Medicaid spokesman said. "For workforce waiver participants, if their income levels increase they get 12 months of TMA and then an additional 12 months of coverage, so they would get two years to transition to other forms of insurance."
The
Even with the extension period, the
"The state's own estimate is that in the first year of the waiver, nearly 5,000 fewer people would be covered under Medicaid each month, and this is likely an underestimate. There is no reason to believe that these people will be transitioning to employer-sponsored insurance or earning enough to qualify for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act," the center's letter said.
If the
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