<p>To date, 12 states have proposed conducting demonstrations that add work requirements to Medicaid, and the federal government has approved three of them. In a new<em> To the Point </em>post<em>,</em> George Washington University’s Sara Rosenbaum and colleagues examine how these requirements would affect low-income older adults – many of whom are in poor health or have one or more chronic conditions.</p><p>Most state waiver proposals set an upper age limit on their work requirements, but the maximum age can range from 50 to 65. While the Trump administration expects states to exempt people who are medically frail, many sicker older adults will need to continually provide updated clinical evidence to maintain their exemption.  </p>
<p>The authors suggest that a policy option would be to exempt people age 50 and older from work requirements, as three states have done. Failing to do so, say the authors, “will not only greatly increase the number of people in poor health facing the burden of a medical exemption justification but will also add to the strain placed on physicians and clinics serving medically underserved communities.”   </p>