Republicans’ proposed Medicaid ‘work requirements’ would affect 10 million

WASHINGTON ― More than 10 million Medicaid enrollees would be subject to “work requirements” under republicans‘ new proposal to cut federal spending in exchange for allowing the government to pay its bills.

Some of those Medicaid recipients might qualify and keep their health care coverage, but others would lose it, according to a new analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank.

Part of the problem is that even if they work enough hours to meet the requirement, some on Medicaid may have a hard time documenting their work history with the government.

“A large portion of the 10 million people subject to the requirements would have to navigate complex work reporting and verification systems. each month while others would have to go through the waiver process periodically to retain coverage,” said Gideon Lukens of the center. reported on friday.

The job requirements were included in a broader bill released Wednesday by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as part of a standoff with the president. Joe Biden on federal spending and the national debt.

Sometime this summer, the federal government could default on its bills unless Congress raises the legal limit on the amount of money the US Treasury Department can borrow. The government needs to sell debt to cover expenses that exceed tax revenue.

Republicans, led by McCarthy, say the national debt of $31 trillion is already too high and that democrats should accept spending cuts to curb debt growth. To that end, his bill calls for across-the-board cuts to federal agencies, plus new limits on benefits for unemployed Americans who receive federal health and nutrition benefits.

The legislation is symbolic, as Democrats control the Senate and the White House, but its passage in the House would likely strengthen McCarthy’s hand in future negotiations with Biden.

The Bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget My dear that the proposed work rules would save the government about $100 billion over a decade, which is only about 2% of the total estimated $4.5 trillion savings from the bill.

Despite its relatively small effect on the federal budget, Republicans have singled out job requirements, suggesting that cutting support for able-bodied adults would push them into the workforce and make it easier for companies to hire.

“Our plan ensures that adults without dependents earn a paycheck and learn new skills,” McCarthy said this week.

He The Congressional Budget Office has said that work requirements in Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have reduced benefits more than they have increased income.

Medicaid recipients without children ages 18 to 55 would have to work 20 hours a week under McCarthy’s proposal or spend an equivalent amount of time volunteering or in a training program. States would be required to try to verify the work of Medicaid recipients, for example by checking payroll data, before asking people to verify.

One obstacle to passing the bill is that far-right lawmakers have said the labor proposal is not strict enough. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), for example, told reporters Thursday that the requirement should be 30 hours a week instead of 20. But a tougher proposal would likely alienate more moderate Republicans. McCarthy has a narrow margin and can lose the support of just four Republicans and still pass the bill.

Medicaid covers health care costs for 85 million low-income Americans, most of them parents and children, and for most of its history it has not had a work requirement. The Donald Trump administration allowed states to test the work rules, and in 2018 about a quarter of Arkansas Medicaid recipients subject to the rule lost coverage.

In part extrapolating from what happened in Arkansas, the CBO estimated that a national Medicaid work requirement would reduce enrollment by 2.2 million a year.