AFP-IN Commends Federal Decision Allowing States to Move Forward with Work Requirements under Medicaid

Jan 12, 2018 by AFP

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Americans for Prosperity-Indiana (AFP-IN) is praising the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) following its announcement that it will allow states to implement work requirements for able-bodied adults under Medicaid.

In a memo released Thursday, the CMS outlined guidance for how states can reform the Medicaid program, including implementing work requirements for able-bodied adults. Medicaid recipients with disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women and children will be excluded from the work requirements. The memo also specifies that, in addition to employment, work can include job training, volunteering, or caring for a close relative.

“The status quo of Medicaid is unsustainable and the program has deviated away from its original intent of providing care for our most vulnerable populations. CMS’s announcement is a big step in the right direction and its success will depend on whether CMS allows states the flexibility to implement truly strong work requirements,” said AFP-IN State Director Justin Stevens. “We urge our officials to work with the federal government to help Indiana attain the flexibility that rewards the dignity of success through work and ensures the program’s solvency for those who need it most.”

Background:

Medicaid was intended to help just the most vulnerable Americans like the elderly and the disabled, but its expansion to able-bodied, childless, working-age adults would create an unsustainable burden on taxpayers and crowd out resources for those truly needy populations.

Last year, Indiana submitted a waiver to the federal government seeking to implement work requirements for able-bodied Medicaid recipients.

Medicaid is simply not cost effective. Researchers from MIT, Harvard, and Dartmouth found that Medicaid recipients only receive 20 to 40 cents of benefit for every dollar spent on Medicaid. Insurance companies, not low-income citizens, are the biggest winners of Medicaid expansion. Kaiser Health News recently reported that Medicaid insurer profits more than tripled in 34 states and the District of Columbia after Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.

However, welfare reforms that require able-bodied adults to work, train, or volunteer have a proven track record of increasing employment and wages while decreasing dependency.

For further information or an interview, reach Lorenz Isidro at LIsidro@afphq.org or (703) 887-7724.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) exists to recruit, educate, and mobilize citizens in support of the policies and goals of a free society at the local, state, and federal level, helping every American live their dream – especially the least fortunate. AFP has more than 3.2 million activists across the nation, a local infrastructure that includes 36 state chapters, and has received financial support from more than 100,000 Americans in all 50 states. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org

###