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Work Requirements That Don't Work
Author(s) -
Latham Stephen R.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
hastings center report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-146X
pISSN - 0093-0334
DOI - 10.1002/hast.928
Subject(s) - medicaid , waiver , administration (probate law) , work (physics) , state (computer science) , business , public administration , public relations , political science , law , computer science , engineering , health care , mechanical engineering , algorithm
Early in 2018, the Trump administration's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a guidance letter outlining a new and controversial kind of Medicaid waiver proposal. The administration invited states to propose waivers that would impose work (or other “community engagement”) requirements as a condition of eligibility for Medicaid. The Trump administration and state proponents of work requirements want to force able‐bodied Medicaid beneficiaries into the workplace. Critics allege that this is because they mistakenly believe that low‐income individuals are not working because they're lazy or because aid programs provide them with a disincentive to work. Proponents respond that the requirements can lower the public programs' costs while helping its recipients. Medicaid data seems to show that the work‐requirement proposals are a solution in search of a real‐life problem .