The Results Are In: Medicaid Work Requirements Don’t Work

For legal and political reasons, the Trump administration has characterized using Medicaid waivers to impose work reporting requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries as experimental, relying on Section 1115 of the Affordable Care Act. Similarly, states proposing Medicaid Section 1115 waivers to add work reporting requirements have hypothesized gains in self-sufficiency, increased employment, and improved health. These are dubious claims, and many observers saw these so-called experimental projects for what they were: an attempt to kick people off Medicaid.

There is now a significant body of evidence that these programs fail on their own terms. Work reporting requirements don’t promote work, don’t improve health outcomes, and, as predicted, result in coverage losses for Medicaid beneficiaries. Additionally, Medicaid work reporting requirements are legally and administratively burdensome for states to implement. At this point, it’s clear that pursuing work reporting requirements is a waste of time.

To read the full fact sheet, download the PDF here.