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Work requirements for Medicaid

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:23 am
by DWill
I used to be in the social work world. That background might make me reflexively negative about the new proposal to tie Medicaid benefits to work for able-bodied people. But I really want to find out if my thinking on this might have some gaps. The reasoning behind the proposal, in the states that want to implement it, seems to be that people who could work--and therefore might be able to earn enough not to rely on Medicaid--are choosing not to work, gaming the system in order to be able to go to the doctor for free or for cheap.

In my state of Virginia, low-income parents/caretakers and disabled adults can qualify for Medicaid. If you are not a parent or disabled, you don't qualify no matter how little money you make. States vary in their rules regarding eligibility.