Latest news with #workRequirements
Wall Street Journal
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Is Medicaid Expansion Just?
While Jared Bernstein and Hannah Katch make several valid points in their letter 'What if Medicaid Hadn't Grown in the U.S.?' (June 12), they miss John Cogan's point. His argument is that the program originally reserved for the poor has expanded to include millions of able-bodied adults who scam the system rather than enter the workforce. If the authors want more proof, they should consult Nick Stehle's account, 'My Son Is Counting on Medicaid Work Requirements' (Cross Country, June 7). My own personal experience with our son who has special needs reinforces the point: We had to fight tooth and nail to obtain services for him, as did many of the families we know in similar circumstances. Meanwhile, incarcerated criminals had better access to healthcare. Merely quoting studies misses the personal aspects of this issue. Robert Oristaglio
Wall Street Journal
12-05-2025
- Health
- Wall Street Journal
Time to Reform the Medicaid Funding Racket
Your editorial 'The Moral Case for Reforming Medicaid' (April 15) is exactly right in arguing that work requirements should be a prerequisite to receive aid for those who are neither elderly nor disabled. Why? Because such provisions have proven successful in other welfare programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and food stamps. Yet the case for reforming Medicaid on moral grounds is even more important than you suggest, because the current system is rife with inequities that undermine its original intent as a safety net for the truly needy. As you note, voters support work requirements. But I suspect few realize that the federal government provides states with more generous reimbursements for able-bodied, childless adults than it does for people with disabilities. This perverse incentive structure encourages states to prioritize coverage for healthy adults without dependents—many of whom could reasonably be working—while deprioritizing vulnerable populations, including disabled people urgently in need of essential services like home healthcare.
