New Medicaid work requirement 'is not a realistic and successful strategy'

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Medicaid leaders and advocates say they are shocked by the Trump administration’s strict direction on implementing Medicaid work requirements, which they argue is a shift from the way federal officials characterized the Medicaid program just weeks ago.

Much of the debate surrounding the nearly 400-page rule released Monday afternoon by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services focuses on medical frailty, one of the ways people can be exempted from work requirements. Obtaining that waiver is more difficult than most people expected, meaning more sick and disabled people are likely to lose Medicaid coverage.

“This is where we’re going to see massive and harmful coverage losses,” said Benjamin Somers, a professor of economics at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “This population has high medical needs and is at high risk of harm if they lose insurance coverage. This is a key implication of the new rule.”

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