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Monday, January 22, 2018

Welfare to work: A critical step forward

On Jan. 11, the Trump administration laid out a clear path to move millions of able-bodied adults from welfare to work. In a letter to state Medicaid directors, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services set forth new guidance for states pursuing Medicaid work requirements.

Under the guidance, states can receive waivers to require able-bodied adults to work, train, or volunteer as a condition of Medicaid eligibility. This will finally bring Medicaid into alignment with other major welfare programs, which have successfully used similar rules for decades.

Work requirements have proven to be a highly effective way to move adults out of dependency. When states implemented work requirements in other welfare programs, they saw able-bodied adults leave welfare in record numbers and find work in more than 600 different industries. Those leaving welfare saw their incomes more than double on average.

But until Thursday, Medicaid had been disconnected from these commonsense rules, and it shows. Although work is the best way out of dependency, few able-bodied adults on Medicaid work full-time jobs, and most don’t work at all. Thursday’s guidance from the Trump administration can change that, by allowing states to build on their successes and align work requirements across all major welfare programs.

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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

So much to do, so few who want to do it.

Anonymous said...

What would the illegals do???

Anonymous said...

I have seen this before. If you think customer service is bad now, just wait until you have people that are forced into labor market waiting on you at entry level jobs. Healthcare gets many of these people as janitors and nursing assistants that don't care about anything other than collecting check. Very sad for old people stuck in nursing homes.

Anonymous said...

Amen! Let's put those lazy a$$es back to work.

Anonymous said...

If you worked and are retired, then you should be able to get medicaid. If you never worked, and could not or cannot keep your legs closed, then you deserve nothing. Those are the people they need to go after. Not those of us who worked their entire lives.