Latest news with #workrequirements
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Speaker Mike Johnson says some Medicaid recipients will 'choose' whether to lose health care under House spending bill
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Sunday defended cuts to Medicaid in the budget bill House Republicans passed last month, saying that '4.8 million people will not lose their Medicaid unless they choose to do so.' Johnson told NBC News' 'Meet the Press' that the bill imposes 'commonsense' work requirements for some Medicaid recipients and added that he's 'not buying' the argument that the work requirements, which would require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work, participate in job training programs or volunteer for 80 hours a month, are too 'cumbersome.' 'You're telling me that you're going to require the able-bodied, these young men, for example, OK, to only work or volunteer in their community for 20 hours a week. And that's too cumbersome for them?' Johnson told 'Meet the Press' moderator Kristen Welker. 'I'm not buying it. The American people are not buying it.' The bill also adds new rules and paperwork requirements for those Medicaid recipients and increases eligibility checks and address verifications. Johnson argued that the work 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,' Johnson added. Johnson's comments come as Republicans have faced pushback in town halls for the cuts to Medicaid in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' package that passed along party lines in the House last month. Reps. Mike Flood, R-Neb., and Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, were booed when they mentioned their support for the package at events in their districts. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, also faced pushback after she defended the proposed cuts, telling attendees at a town hall on Friday that 'we all are going to die.' The move has also faced criticism from some Senate Republicans. Last month, before the House passed its bill, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote in a New York Times op-ed that there is a 'wing of the party [that] wants Republicans to build our big, beautiful bill around slashing health insurance for the working poor. But that argument is both morally wrong and politically suicidal.' Democrats and other opponents of the bill have seized on a number of provisions that include hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid, a federal program that provides health care for low-income Americans. Democrats, including Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who appeared on the program after Johnson, have argued that Medicaid recipients who get tripped up by the reporting requirements that are set to be imposed alongside the new work requirements will lead to the loss of health care coverage for millions. 'This is what this legislation does, that they're trying to do. They're going to throw poor people away,' Warnock told Welker. Warnock referenced a study that his office conducted in his home state of Georgia that he said 'shows that this work reporting requirement — because that's what we're talking about, not work requirements, work reporting requirement — is very good at kicking people off of their health care.' 'It's not good at incentivizing work at all,' he added. The bill now heads to the Senate, where Johnson said he was confident it would advance and make it to President Donald Trump's desk by July 4. 'We're going to get this done. The sooner the better,' Johnson said Sunday, adding later: 'We're going to get it to the president's desk, and he's going to have a — we're all going to have a glorious celebration on Independence Day, by July 4, when he gets this signed into law.' This article was originally published on
CBS News
25-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
House Speaker Mike Johnson says Medicaid work requirements in Trump's "big, beautiful bill" have a "moral component"
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who shepherded President Trump's "one big, beautiful bill" through Congress, said Sunday that the Medicaid work requirements — which could affect his home state of Louisiana — have a "moral component" to them because people on Medicaid who "refuse" to work are "defrauding the system." "If you are able to work and you refuse to do so, you are defrauding the system," Johnson said Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." "You're cheating the system. And no one in the country believes that that's right. So there's a moral component to what we're doing. And when you make young men work, it's good for them, it's good for their dignity, it's good for their self-worth, and it's good for the community that they live in." The GOP-controlled House passed the massive bill, which sets priorities for Mr. Trump's agenda for upcoming budgets, by just one vote in the early hours Thursday after an all-night session. The bill is now headed to the Senate, where several Republicans have already voiced concerns, including Sens. Josh Hawley and Rand Paul. The bill went through intense debate in two committees last week as an alliance of blue-state Republicans and fiscal hawks refused to budge. Given Republicans' razor-thin majority in the House, Mr. Trump went to the Hill on Tuesday to rally the holdouts in the GOP conference. To pay for some of Mr. Trump's tax reforms, such as extending his 2017 tax cuts and eliminating tax on tips, there are cuts to several programs. Republicans have insisted they are not cutting Medicaid, and reductions in the low-income entitlement program have become one of the most charged parts of the bill. In a closed-door session Tuesday with members of the Republican conference, sources in the room told CBS News Mr. Trump said, "Don't f*** around with Medicaid." To save money on Medicaid, the final version of the bill puts work requirements on Medicaid, which Johnson has insisted will account for the bulk of any cost-cutting. An analysis by the healthcare nonprofit KFF found that 190,000 people in Louisiana, Johnson's home state, stand to lose Medicaid under new requirements. Johnson insisted on Sunday that "we have not cut Medicaid, and we have not cut SNAP," the food stamp program. "What we're doing … is working on fraud, waste and abuse, and everyone in Louisiana and around the country understands that that's a responsibility of Congress," Johnson said. He said there are 4.8 million Americans on Medicaid who are "able-bodied workers, young men, for example, who are not working, who are taking advantage of the system." Calling it a "moral component" to put Americans to work, he added, "when you make young men work, it's good for them, it's good for their dignity, it's good for their self-worth, and it's good for the community that they live in." Johnson also claimed some of those who are on Medicaid and SNAP are undocumented immigrants, although they are not eligible to receive food stamps or Medicaid. When moderator Margaret Brennan pushed back for Johnson to clarify that his position is that the estimated 190,000 Louisianans who stand to lose Medicaid coverage are "lazy, not working? That they were undocumented? What about them? How do you defend that they will be losing their benefits?" "No. What we're talking about, again, is able-bodied workers, many of whom are refusing to work because they're gaming the system," Johnson said. "And when we make them work, it'll be better for everybody, a win-win-win for all." Johnson said the Medicaid work requirements are "not some onerous, burdensome thing," saying they require recipients to work a minimum of 20 hours a week — either working, be in job training programs or volunteering in the community. "When the American people understand what we are doing here, they applaud it," Johnson said. "This is a wildly popular thing, because we have to preserve the programs. What we're doing is strengthening Medicaid and SNAP so that they can exist, so that they'll be there for the people that desperately need it the most, and it's not being taken advantage of. And this is something that everybody in Congress, Republicans and Democrats, should agree to." But as the bill heads to the Senate for debate, the GOP's Hawley has called it "both morally wrong and politically suicidal" to slash Medicaid, indicating brewing opposition to it in that chamber. Hawley particularly took issue with a cost-sharing measure with Medicaid between federal and state governments, which he said would force those at or just over the federal poverty level to pay as much as $35 for a medical visit. Johnson pushed back on that claim, saying that the House included in the bill a "modest state-sharing component, so that they'll pay attention to that, so that we can reduce fraud." But as Brennan noted, the bill still has to pass the Senate, and if Senators make the expected changes to the bill, it will have to go back to the House. Johnson said he had lunch with his Republican counterparts in the upper chamber on Tuesday, and he said he reminded them that they are a team. "It's the Senate and the House Republicans together that will deliver this ball over the goal line, so to speak," Johnson said. "And I encouraged them to make as few modifications as possible, remembering that I have a very delicate balance on our very diverse Republican caucus over in the House."
CBS News
25-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
House Speaker Mike Johnson says Medicaid cuts in Trump's "big, beautiful bill" have a "moral component"
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who shepherded President Trump's "one big, beautiful bill" through Congress, said Sunday that the Medicaid work requirements — which could affect his home state of Louisiana — have a "moral component" to them because people on Medicaid who "refuse" to work are "defrauding the system." "If you are able to work and you refuse to do so, you are defrauding the system," Johnson said Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." "You're cheating the system. And no one in the country believes that that's right. So there's a moral component to what we're doing. And when you make young men work, it's good for them, it's good for their dignity, it's good for their self-worth, and it's good for the community that they live in." The GOP-controlled House passed the massive bill, which sets priorities for Mr. Trump's agenda for upcoming budgets, by just one vote in the early hours Thursday after an all-night session. The bill is now headed to the Senate, where several Republicans have already voiced concerns, including Sens. Josh Hawley and Rand Paul. The bill went through intense debate in two committees last week as an alliance of blue-state Republicans and fiscal hawks refused to budge. Given Republicans' razor-thin majority in the House, Mr. Trump went to the Hill on Tuesday to rally the holdouts in the GOP conference. To pay for some of Mr. Trump's tax reforms, such as extending his 2017 tax cuts and eliminating tax on tips, there are cuts to several programs. Republicans have insisted they are not cutting Medicaid, and reductions in the low-income entitlement program have become one of the most charged parts of the bill. In a closed-door session Tuesday with members of the Republican conference, sources in the room told CBS News Mr. Trump said, "Don't f*** around with Medicaid." To save money on Medicaid, the final version of the bill puts work requirements on Medicaid, which Johnson has insisted will account for the bulk of any cost-cutting. An analysis by the healthcare nonprofit KFF found that 190,000 people in Louisiana, Johnson's home state, stand to lose Medicaid under new requirements. Johnson insisted on Sunday that "we have not cut Medicaid, and we have not cut SNAP," the food stamp program. "What we're doing … is working on fraud, waste and abuse, and everyone in Louisiana and around the country understands that that's a responsibility of Congress," Johnson said. He said there are 4.8 million Americans on Medicaid who are "able-bodied workers, young men, for example, who are not working, who are taking advantage of the system." Calling it a "moral component" to put Americans to work, he added, "when you make young men work, it's good for them, it's good for their dignity, it's good for their self-worth, and it's good for the community that they live in." Johnson also claimed some of those who are on Medicaid and SNAP are undocumented immigrants, although they are not eligible to receive food stamps or Medicaid. When moderator Margaret Brennan pushed back for Johnson to clarify that his position is that the estimated 190,000 Louisianans who stand to lose Medicaid coverage are "lazy, not working? That they were undocumented? What about them? How do you defend that they will be losing their benefits?" "No. What we're talking about, again, is able-bodied workers, many of whom are refusing to work because they're gaming the system," Johnson said. "And when we make them work, it'll be better for everybody, a win-win-win for all." Johnson said the Medicaid work requirements are "not some onerous, burdensome thing," saying they require recipients to work a minimum of 20 hours a week — either working, be in job training programs or volunteering in the community. "When the American people understand what we are doing here, they applaud it," Johnson said. "This is a wildly popular thing, because we have to preserve the programs. What we're doing is strengthening Medicaid and SNAP so that they can exist, so that they'll be there for the people that desperately need it the most, and it's not being taken advantage of. And this is something that everybody in Congress, Republicans and Democrats, should agree to." But as the bill heads to the Senate for debate, the GOP's Hawley has called it "both morally wrong and politically suicidal" to slash Medicaid, indicating brewing opposition to it in that chamber. Hawley particularly took issue with a cost-sharing measure with Medicaid between federal and state governments, which he said would force those at or just over the federal poverty level to pay as much as $35 for a medical visit. Johnson pushed back on that claim, saying that the House included in the bill a "modest state-sharing component, so that they'll pay attention to that, so that we can reduce fraud." But as Brennan noted, the bill still has to pass the Senate, and if Senators make the expected changes to the bill, it will have to go back to the House. Johnson said he had lunch with his Republican counterparts in the upper chamber on Tuesday, and he said he reminded them that they are a team. "It's the Senate and the House Republicans together that will deliver this ball over the goal line, so to speak," Johnson said. "And I encouraged them to make as few modifications as possible, remembering that I have a very delicate balance on our very diverse Republican caucus over in the House."
Fast Company
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Fast Company
Why Medicaid work requirements place extra burdens on low-income families
Republican lawmakers have been battling over a bill that includes massive tax and spending cuts. Much of their disagreement has been over provisions intended to reduce the cost of Medicaid. The popular health insurance program, which is funded by both the federal and state governments, covers about 78.5 million low-income and disabled people—more than 1 in 5 Americans. On May 22, 2025, the House of Representatives narrowly approved the tax, spending, and immigration bill. The legislation, which passed without any support from Democrats, is designed to reduce federal Medicaid spending by requiring anyone enrolled in the program who appears to be able to get a job to either satisfy work requirements or lose their coverage. It's still unclear, however, whether Senate Republicans would support that provision. Although there are few precedents for such a mandate for Medicaid, other safety net programs have been enforcing similar rules for nearly three decades. I'm a political scientist who has extensively studied the work requirements of another safety net program: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). As I explain in my book, Living Off the Government? Race, Gender, and the Politics of Welfare, work requirements place extra burdens on low-income families but do little to lift them out of poverty. Work requirements for TANF TANF gives families with very low incomes some cash they can spend on housing, food, clothing, or whatever they need most. The Clinton administration launched it as a replacement for a similar program, Aid to Families With Dependent Children, in 1996. At the time, both political parties were eager to end a welfare system they believed was riddled with abuse. A big goal with TANF was ending the dependence of people getting cash benefits on the government by moving them from welfare to work. Many people were removed from the welfare rolls, but not because work requirements led to economic prosperity. Instead, they had trouble navigating the bureaucratic demands. TANF is administered by the states. They can set many rules of their own, but they must comply with an important federal requirement: Adult recipients have to work or engage in an authorized alternative activity for at least 30 hours per week. The number of weekly hours is only 20 if the recipient is caring for a child under the age of 6. The dozen activities or so that can count toward this quota range from participating in job training programs to engaging in community service. Some adults enrolled in TANF are exempt from work requirements, depending on their state's own policies. The most common exemptions are for people who are ill, have a disability, or are over age 60. To qualify for TANF, families must have dependent children; in some states pregnant women also qualify. Income limits are set by the state and range from $307 a month for a family of three in Alabama to $2,935 a month for a family of three in Minnesota. Adult TANF recipients face a federal five-year lifetime limit on benefits. States can adopt shorter time limits; Arizona's is 12 months. An administrative burden Complying with these work requirements generally means proving that you're working or making the case that you should be exempt from this mandate. This places what's known as an ' administrative burden ' on the people who get cash assistance. It often requires lots of documentation and time. If you have an unpredictable work schedule, inconsistent access to child care, or obligations to care for an older relative, this paperwork is hard to deal with. What counts as work, how many hours must be completed, and who is exempt from these requirements often comes down to a caseworker's discretion. Social science research shows that this discretion is not equally applied and is often informed by stereotypes. The number of people getting cash assistance has fallen sharply since TANF replaced Aid to Families With Dependent Children. In some states caseloads have dropped by more than 50% despite significant population growth. Some of this decline happened because recipients got jobs that paid them too much to qualify. The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan office that provides economic research to Congress, attributes, at least in part, an increase in employment among less-educated single mothers in the 1990s to work requirements. Not everyone who stopped getting cash benefits through TANF wound up employed, however. Other recipients who did not meet requirements fell into deep poverty. Regardless of why people leave the program, when fewer low-income Americans get TANF benefits, the government spends less money on cash assistance. Federal funding has remained flat at $16.5 billion since 1996. Taking inflation into account, the program receives half as much funding as when it was created. In addition, states have used the flexibility granted them to direct most of their TANF funds to priorities other than cash benefits, such as pre-K education. Many Americans who get help paying for groceries through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are also subject to work requirements. People the government calls ' able-bodied adults without dependents ' can only receive SNAP benefits for three months within a three-year period if they are not employed. A failed experiment in Arkansas Lawmakers in Congress and in statehouses have debated whether to add work requirements for Medicaid before. More than a dozen states have applied for waivers that would let them give it a try. When Arkansas instituted Medicaid work requirements in 2018, during the first Trump administration, it was largely seen as a failure. Some 18,000 people lost their health care coverage, but employment rates did not increase. After a court order stopped the policy in 2019, most people regained their coverage. Georgia is currently the only state with Medicaid work requirements in effect, after implementing a waiver in July 2023. The program has experienced technical difficulties and has had trouble verifying work activities. Other states, including Idaho, Indiana, and Kentucky, are already asking the federal government to let them enforce Medicaid work requirements. What this may mean for Medicaid The multitrillion-dollar bill the House passed by a vote of 215-214 would introduce Medicaid work requirements nationwide by late 2026 for childless adults ages 19 to 64, with some exemptions. But most people covered by Medicaid in that age range are already working, and those who are not would likely be eligible for work requirement waivers. An analysis by KFF —a nonprofit that informs the public about health issues—shows that in 2023, 44% of Medicaid recipients were working full time and another 20% were working part time. In 2023, that was more than 16 million Americans. About 20% of the American adults under 65 who are covered by Medicaid are not working due to illness or disability, or because of caregiving responsibilities, according to KFF. This includes both people caring for young children and those taking care of relatives with an illness or disability. In my own research, I read testimony from families seeking work exemptions because caregiving, including for children with disabilities, was a full-time job. The rest of the adults under 65 with Medicaid coverage are not working because they are in school, are retired, cannot find work, or have some other reason. It's approximately 3.9 million Americans. Depending on what counts as 'work,' they may be meeting any requirements that could be added to the program. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that introducing Medicaid work requirements would save around $300 billion over a decade. Given past experience with work requirements, it is unlikely those savings would come from Americans finding jobs. My research suggests it's more likely that the government would trim spending by taking away the health insurance of people eligible for Medicaid coverage who get tangled up in red tape.
New York Times
22-05-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Medicaid, Welfare and a Work Requirement
To the Editor: Re 'If You Want Welfare and Can Work, You Must,' by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mehmet Oz, Brooke Rollins and Scott Turner (Opinion guest essay, May 16): My successor at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Dr. Oz, and his colleagues claim that taking coverage away from people who don't meet a work requirement will promote work. They are wrong: This policy is a Medicaid cut that will hurt families and our health care system. We know, because they tried this policy during the first Trump administration — and it failed. Medicaid supports work. When I was the administrator, C.M.S. helped people with disabilities get Medicaid home care so they could get to work. We expanded treatment for mental illness and addiction, which set people on the road to recovery. It's common sense: People who can't get the care they need will have a harder time looking for work or keeping a job. In 2018, Arkansas' work requirements led to 30 percent of Medicaid enrollees losing coverage, although only 4 percent of Medicaid enrollees were not working, in school or otherwise exempted. The red tape made it harder for everyone to keep health care coverage — and it didn't increase employment. Medicaid also supports our nation's economy by keeping millions of workers healthy and serving as a safety net for those who can't work. It is crucial to maternal and infant health, keeping our nation's hospitals open and supporting our health care work force. During the Biden-Harris administration, the rate of uninsured was the lowest in U.S. history. Our focus should be making health care coverage more affordable for all Americans.
