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The Future Of Medicaid For "Able-Bodied" Adults

Adam Berry/Getty Images

A new Trump administration policy will allow states to screen for “able-bodied” adults who are recipients of Medicaid and impose work requirements on them. It’s a response to what several states have requested, says the White House. From The New York Times:

“In the past, federal officials said that work was not one of the purposes of Medicaid.

But Trump administration officials said Thursday that work requirements were consistent with the goals of Medicaid, because work and other community engagement activities could improve the health of Medicaid beneficiaries.”

The Washington Examiner reports:

“The guidelines would allow states to require that some Medicaid enrollees hold a job, participate in volunteer work, or enroll in classes or work training for a certain number of hours each week. States could choose to include caregiving for a disabled child or elderly adult as meeting the requirement.”

More than 40 million Americans are covered by Medicaid, although most of the funding goes to children, the elderly and those with disabilities. They won’t be affected by the policy changes, but what about those who will?

We look at the move to allow work requirements for Medicaid recipients and how it could change the American workforce.

GUESTS

Phil Galewitz, Senior correspondent, Kaiser Health News

For more, visit https://the1a.org.

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