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Work requirements for some Medicaid beneficiaries begin across the U.S. in January, the result of President Donald Trump’s big 2025 tax cut and policy law, and a handful of Republican-led states are imposing tougher rules than the law requires.<\/p>\n
At issue is how someone can prove they are too medically frail<\/a> to work. While federal regulations say the state can take the recipient’s word for it for the first year, at least six states are requiring documentation immediately. There is a continuing push in other states to follow suit eventually.<\/p>\n Advocates say that could create problems, especially for new applicants to the joint state-federal health insurance program for lower-income people.<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone may not be able to work, but they can\u2019t see a doctor because they can\u2019t afford it. So they\u2019re now applying for Medicaid,\u201d said Jennifer Tolbert, director of state health policy and data at the research organization KFF. \u201cBut Medicaid is saying you need documentation from a provider.\u201d<\/p>\n As some Republican-led states take a tougher-than-required approach to implementing the federally mandated changes, Democrats in 25 states are suing<\/a> and asserting that the rules are too harsh.<\/p>\n The Medicaid changes are projected to save the federal government $887 billion over the next decade and result in 7.5 million fewer people with health insurance, according to the Congressional Budget Office\u2019s 2025 estimate.<\/p>\n The conservative Foundation for Government Accountability has been pushing states not to make it too easy for people to avoid work requirements, saying able-bodied adults are pushing enrollment and costs higher.<\/p>\n Jonathan Ingram, vice president of research and policy at the group, has been encouraging states not to take a beneficiary\u2019s word for it, a process known as self-attestation. <\/p>\n \u201cSelf-attestation is fraud-by-design,\u201d he said via email. \u201cIt is a policy developed by bureaucrats to maximize enrollment at the expense of program integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n Self-attestation comes under penalty of perjury, so people who lie can be subject to criminal charges \u2014 though such charges are rare.<\/p>\n Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Ohio all have laws or policies that bar self-attestation to qualify for the work requirement exception starting next year.<\/p>\n Republican Missouri state Rep. Darin Chappell said he worked with the Foundation for Government Accountability to craft a proposed amendment that would have enshrined Medicaid work requirements in the state constitution. It would have required \u201cdocumentary evidence\u201d of work or reasons for exemptions, specifically prohibiting self-attestation.<\/p>\n The amendment passed the Missouri House but died without a vote in the Senate. Chappell plans to try again next year.<\/p>\n \u201cIf someone has a debilitating physical ailment \u2014 or mental ailment for that matter \u2014 something that prohibits them from working, that\u2019s totally legitimate,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019re not taking anybody\u2019s word for it. I don\u2019t mean to shock you none, but people do tend to lie about such things.\u201d<\/p>\n The new mandate applies to up to 20 million lower-income adults without children at home who are enrolled in Medicaid through an optional expansion in 40 states and the District of Columbia. The requirement does not apply in the 10 states, mostly in the South, that did not expand Medicaid.<\/p>\n Beneficiaries will have to work or volunteer at least 80 hours each month or be in school at least half-time to qualify, with exceptions for situations including medical frailty.<\/p>\n The law had said medically frail people include those who have substance use disorders, disabilities or serious medical conditions. But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a rule<\/a> in June that went further and was stricter than states and providers expected, saying someone\u2019s condition must \u201csignificantly impair\u201d their ability to work, volunteer or attend school as required for an exemption.<\/p>\n Currently states generally decide once a year whether Medicaid recipients still qualify for benefits. The new law will require it to happen twice for most enrollees.<\/p>\n States will be allowed to accept self-attestation just once each time a person enrolls starting in 2028. After that, documentation would be required at least every 12 months to verify that they still have the condition and that it still prevents them from being able to work. <\/p>\n The government expects states to rely increasingly on third-party data \u2014 on things such as workers\u2019 compensation claims or prescription information \u2014 to help make determinations. For conditions that do not show up in the databases, states can require a doctor’s certification, a disability award letter or other proof.<\/p>\n While states have been ramping up the use of this information, the work requirements are still a big change, and many will first have to spend millions of dollars<\/a> improving their computer systems.<\/p>\n States are already struggling in some cases to make changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance food program, or SNAP, that are required under Trump’s law, including an expanded work requirement. <\/p>\n