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As a number of states pursue Medicaid waivers to require certain beneficiaries to work in order to receive benefits, the House Budget Committee passed a budget resolution this month calling for the enactment of Medicaid work requirements in all states, a goal also advanced in proposed legislation in the Senate by Sen.
A number of states have received approval for, have applied for, or are considering Medicaid waiver proposals that would impose work requirements as a condition of eligibility, and some policymakers are calling for a federal requirement that all states implement work requirements in Medicaid. This analysis provides illustrative scenarios of potential nationwide reductions in Medicaid coverage if all states implemented work requirements similar to those currently proposed. The scenarios assume low and high disenrollment rates tied to compliance with the work requirements and related problems with reporting, based on disenrollment rates reported in existing studies of the effect of Medicaid reporting requirements and state estimates of enrollment under proposed waivers.
Source KFF Analysis of the 2016 National Health Interview Survey…
Among enrollees targeted in the push for work requirements for “able-bodied adults” in Medicaid, only 6 percent are not already working and unlikely to qualify for an exemption, according to an analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Most of the states with approved or pending Section 1115 waivers that condition Medicaid eligibility on work would apply those requirements to all or most nonelderly adults (ages 19-64) who are not receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) cash assistance, including older nonelderly adults (ages 50-64). Older nonelderly adults may be limited in their ability to satisfy a work requirement due to barriers resulting from age and/or disability. Previous analysis shows that many nonelderly Medicaid adults (ages 19-64) have functional limitations that may interfere with their ability to work but do not rise to the stringent SSI level of disability, making them potentially subject to work requirements. Older nonelderly adults are over twice as likely to have a disability than younger adults (17% vs. 7%). Furthermore, older nonelderly adults account for nearly half (45%) of all nonelderly Medicaid adults with a disability but not SSI who could be affected by a work requirement. This analysis examines the implications of work requirements for Medicaid adults ages 50 to 64 (referred to as “older nonelderly Medicaid adults”) and provides national and state level estimates of their disability, SSI, and work status using data from the 2016 American Community Survey (ACS).
Ahead of the Midterms, Voters across Parties See Costs as their Top Health Care Concern At a time when the Trump Administration is encouraging state efforts to revamp their Medicaid programs through waivers, the latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll finds the public splits on whether the reason behind proposals to impose work requirements on…
At a time when some states are considering changes to their Medicaid programs, the February Kaiser Health Tracking Poll measures Americans’ attitudes toward Medicaid and examines views on work requirements and lifetime limits on benefits. The poll also continues to find the public leaning favorably towards the ACA, with this month marking the highest level of favorability since 2010. When asked to say in their own words what health care issue they most want 2018 midterm candidates to discuss, voters mention health care costs as their top concern.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) significantly modernized and streamlined Medicaid enrollment and renewal processes across all states. Through major investments of time, money, and staff, most states have implemented modernized systems that transformed lengthy, paperwork driven enrollment and renewal procedures to a simplified, technology-driven experience that minimizes burdens on individuals and states. Recently approved and proposed waivers and other proposed policies include new eligibility and enrollment requirements and restrictions that run counter to the ACA’s streamlined processes (Figure 1). This fact sheet provides an overview of how enrollment and renewal processes changed under the ACA and the implications of emerging waivers and other proposed changes on streamlined enrollment and renewal.
On February 1, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved an amended extension of Indiana’s Healthy Indiana Program 2.0 (HIP 2.0) Section 1115 demonstration waiver. Indiana’s waiver initially implemented the ACA’s Medicaid expansion from February, 2015 through January, 2018 by modifying Indiana’s pre-ACA limited coverage expansion waiver (HIP 1.0). Unlike other states that implemented the ACA’s Medicaid expansion through a waiver, Indiana’s demonstration also changes the terms of coverage for non-expansion adults (low-income parents and those eligible for Transitional Medical Assistance, TMA). The February, 2018 extension continues most components of HIP 2.0 and adds some new provisions.
On Thursday, February 23, the Kaiser Family Foundation will host a web briefing for journalists to explain how block grant and per capita cap spending proposals for Medicaid would work and what the possible implications are.
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