What Do the New Medicaid Work Requirements Mean for You?

Millions of people could risk losing their health care if they don’t work.

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The Trump administration announced last week that it would allow states to impose work or other “community engagement” requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries—a first in the program’s history.

Though the administration says the policy will not apply to Medicaid beneficiaries who are pregnant, disabled,  elderly, or deemed “medically frail,” millions of adults could now face work requirements—and potentially risk losing their insurance. A report from the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates there are nearly 25 million adults on Medicaid, 60 percent of whom are already working. But as my colleague Noah Lanard explains, many Medicaid beneficiaries who don’t work face obstacles entering the workforce. 

More than a third of those 25 million Americans say they are ill or disabled, and 30 percent say they’re taking care of “home or family.” Two-thirds of Medicaid recipients in Michigan who are “out of work” say they have a chronic illness.

Under the new policy, states must first apply and receive a waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Kentucky received an approval last Friday, and nine other states—Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah, and Wisconsin—have applications pending. And more could apply. 

Mother Jones wants to hear from you about this issue. Are you at risk of losing coverage because your state has applied for Medicaid work requirements? How would these changes affect you?








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This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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