Trump White House clears path for Medicaid work requirement

Jan. 11--States will now be able to impose work requirements on able-bodied, low-income American adults to receive Medicaid benefits, the Trump administration signaled Thursday.

The move is expected to impact millions of Americans who rely on the state-federal program to help get health coverage.

It will allows states to deny Medicaid to able-bodied adults without a job, according to reports.

Community involvement that's commensurate with employment will be counted as a job under the new guidelines. That exemption also covers people undergoing treatment for substance abuse problems.

"Medicaid needs to be more flexible so that states can best address the needs of this population," Seema Verma, the Medicaid and Medicare chief, said in a statement. "Our fundamental goal is to make a positive and lasting difference in the health and wellness of our beneficiaries."

Ten states, all of which have Republican governors, recently applied for waivers to impose work requirements.

Kentucky will likely become the first state to receive a waiver, which could happen as soon as Friday, the Washington Post reported.

States can typically apply for waivers to make tweaks to the biggest government health plan, which covers more than 70 million people.

Medicaid doesn't currently require recipients to have a job.

Elderly and disabled recipients will be exempt from the new rule, as well as pregnant women.

States have been advised to take into account recipients who look after an elderly relative or children.

Almost 60% of working-age Medicaid recipients are in fact working full- or part-time jobs, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study. Many of their employers, however, don't offer healthcare coverage.

Recipients who aren't working were mostly taking care of a relative, attending school or too sick.

The majority of those polled by the nonpartisan foundation opposed the Trump administration's proposed cuts to Medicaid, but 70% said they supported some sort of work requirement.

Advocates for the poor and Democrats are likely to pan the move.

"It is a very major change in Medicaid that for the first time would allow people to be cut off for not meeting a work requirement, regardless of the hardship they may suffer," Judy Solomon with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities told the Associated Press.

Republicans will likely see it as a major reform victory on a stable of the social safety net for more than 50 years.

Medicaid has expanded over the years beyond the impoverished, to cover people in nursing homes and newborns.

The Obama administration stretched the guidelines for Medicaid coverage to allow millions of working adults to qualify for the program.

With News Wire Services

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