Medicaid Work Requirement Programs Are Poorly Designed and Underresourced, Experts Say
Four states have received federal approval to impose work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries, and additional states are seeking the same. Proponents say these requirements will help people gain employment and reduce dependency.
But do work requirement programs help low-income adults improve their opportunities, or are they designed to sanction beneficiaries in a bid to lower Medicaid program caseloads? That is the question posed in a new Commonwealth Fund report by Leighton Ku and colleagues at George Washington University.
According to experts on previous work programs for Medicaid and public assistance enrollees, the current crop of work demonstration programs is poorly designed and resourced, and unlikely to help many people find work or become healthier. None contribute much, if any, additional funding to train the unemployed or provide necessary social supports. “The initiatives are more likely to reduce Medicaid rolls and leave more people without health insurance coverage,” the report finds.
Rather than allocating limited resources to mandatory work requirement administration, the authors say these funds would be better spent on initiatives to improve health, such as reducing opioid or tobacco usage, or on well-designed voluntary employment opportunities.
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