Virginia is still waiting on the federal government to make a determination on work requirements for Medicaid expansion. And, new research shows they might be counterproductive.
It’s been more than a year since Republicans and Democrats struck a deal to expand Medicaid. That deal relied on work requirements — Republicans demanded able-bodied people show that they are working or at least looking for work in order to get health insurance.
But now, Freddy Mejia at the Commonwealth Institute says new research shows that compliance demands of the work requirements are overly burdensome and promote harmful narratives that disempower participants.
“It really just runs contrary to research on building programs to escape poverty," explains Mejia. "Lawmakers should really just consider the growing body of evidence here that show that these requirements are ineffective and harmful.”
Virginia legal expert Rich Kelsey says the legal ability of states to force work requirements is currently being challenged in Arkansas and Kentucky.
“It’s going to be an issue of whether the states can craft work requirements that meet the spirit and intent of the Medicaid law," says Kelsey. "And right now neither state that’s been challenged has figured out how to do that.”
Indiana had to wait a year and a half for approval of its waiver, so that could indicate that the feds are about to make a determination on Virginia’s waiver in the next few months.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
