Speaker Johnson defends Medicaid work requirements as 'commonsense'

The Herald Scotland

2 days ago

The bill implements new requirements for able-bodied adults without children to show that they've worked, volunteered, or attended an educational program for at least 80 hours per month. Some researchers argue that millions of people eligible for Medicaid could lose coverage because they are unable to meet the bureaucratic requirements to prove they are disabled, working or going to school.
Johnson defended the requirements in an interview with NBC News' "Meet the Press" on June 1, arguing that the bill would implement "common sense" requirements.
"You're telling me that you're going to require the able-bodied, these young men, for example, to only work or volunteer in their community for 20 hours a week. And that's too cumbersome for them?" Johnson said "I'm not buying it. The American people are not buying it."
He added that the requirements "should have been put in a long time ago."
"The people who are complaining that these people are going to lose their coverage because they can't fulfill the paperwork, this is minor enforcement of this policy, and it follows common sense," he said.
The bill will now be reviewed by the Senate, where it may undergo changes.
Some Republican senators, like Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, have raised concerns about the depth of potential cuts to Medicaid.
Democrats have argued that the legislation is cutting benefits for low-income Americans in order to deliver additional tax breaks to the wealthy.
Johnson's comments come as some Republican lawmakers face pushback in their home states and districts over the proposed cuts. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Nebraska, Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, faced angry crowds during town halls that raised concerns about the bill's impact on Medicaid.
Republican lawmakers hope to pass the legislation by July 4, leaving them only four weeks to approve it in the Senate, reconcile changes between the House and Senate versions, approve it again in the House, and send it to the president's desk.
However, the real deadline is the end of July. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned lawmakers that the U.S. will default on its debt in August if the debt ceiling is not raised. The bill also includes a $4 trillion increase in the debt ceiling.