Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Kentuckians Scared Of Medicaid Rules: 'If People Could Work Their Way Out Of Poverty, They Would Have Already'
The Washington Post: The Nation’s First Medicaid Work Rules Loom, And Many Fear Losing Health Coverage
Gov. Matt Bevin is exultant as his administration sets out to transform Medicaid. Only a week ago, he won federal permission to pursue a goal that has animated his two years in office: making hundreds of thousands of poor Kentuckians hold jobs or engage in their communities in other ways to keep their health insurance. It is an approach never tried by any state, and it will also transform lives. The unorthodox plan, Bevin has faith, will lift people into economic self-reliance, ease Kentucky’s stubbornly high rates of addiction and ill health, and propel the needy to “derive a sense of dignity by your own power.” From this capital city in the state’s Bluegrass region, he is buoyed by a sense of mission. “It’s a . . . joy that we are doing right by people,” Bevin says. (Goldstein, 1/19)
Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser: State Officials Look Toward Some Medicaid Work Requirements
With new support from the Trump administration, attempts to impose work requirements on the relatively small number of able-bodied Alabama Medicaid recipients are going ahead. The efforts focus on the parent and caretaker population, who provide care to children who receive Medicaid. Parents and caretakers must make exceptionally low wages – 18 percent of the federal poverty line, or $3,740.40 a year for a family of three – to qualify for benefits. (Lyman, 1/21)
WKSU (Akron,Ohio, Public Radio): Ohio Debates Work Requirements For Medicaid
The budget Ohio'a GOP Legislature passed last year requires the state to apply for permission to impose work requirements on able-bodied Medicaid recipients. That could mean thousands of Ohioans could lose their health-care coverage. ... And there are questions about whether Medicaid recipients who find low-wage jobs would make too much money to qualify for Medicaid – while their jobs would likely not come with health insurance benefits. (Kasler, 1/22)
The Associated Press: Analysis: Edwards Proposing Medicaid Idea Championed By GOP
Gov. John Bel Edwards' announcement that he intends to pursue work requirements for some Medicaid recipients in Louisiana seemed to catch Republicans who have championed the idea by surprise. They want to make sure the Democratic governor follows through on the proposal they've pushed unsuccessfully — and that he doesn't get all the credit. Many question marks remain about what exactly Edwards wants to enact, what process he'll use and how many low-income people would be impacted in Louisiana's $12.5 billion Medicaid program. (Deslatte, 1/21)
