The idea of imposing work requirements in Medicaid is making a comeback in Congress and at the state level.

Some House Republicans are pushing to include such a measure in any deal to raise the debt ceiling. The policy resonates with a larger message of personal responsibility, and advocates suggest that work requirements could help achieve budget savings and create a pathway to prosperity for low-income people. Opponents argue that imposing requirements will not significantly increase work since most Medicaid enrollees already work, and would just create an additional administrative barrier to maintaining Medicaid coverage.

On the state level, Georgia is poised to implement work requirements in a limited expansion of Medicaid this summer after a court overturned the Biden administration’s attempt to block the move administratively. In Arkansas, the only state to have implemented work and reporting requirements, thousands of people were disenrolled for failure to comply, including some who were eligible but could not navigate the process.

On Tuesday, April 25 , three experts joined series moderator Larry Levitt in a 45-minute discussion about work and reporting requirements in public programs such as Medicaid, their effects on enrollment and employment, and what we can expect on the state and federal levels regarding the future of Medicaid work requirements.

Moderator

• Larry Levitt, Executive Vice President for Health Policy, KFF

Panelists

• Madeline Guth, Senior Policy Analyst, Program on Medicaid & Uninsured, KFF
• Heather Hahn, Associate Vice President, Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population, Urban Institute
• Angela Rachidi, Senior Fellow and Rowe Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

KFF’s virtual series, The Health Wonk Shop, features conversations with experts, diving into timely health policy issues for a deeper discussion beyond the news headlines.