The irony was probably lost on Gov. Kim Reynolds.
Reynolds gave her big speech last week in front of a joint session of the Iowa Legislature. It’s a crowd of lawmakers who barely work four days a week at the Capitol. If they live outside Polk County, they get $178 per day to cover living expenses.
With all the special interest events and receptions, costing a total of $330,000 last year, they’re unlikely to go hungry. And lawmakers are eligible sign up for affordable, quality state health insurance.
To this august and comfortable gathering, Reynolds proposed enacting work requirements for low-income adults who receive Medicaid health coverage.
“So I’m proposing that Iowa apply for a federal waiver to institute work requirements for able-bodied adults on Medicaid,” Reynolds said.“ ”In other words, if you can work, you should. It’s common sense and good policy. For the men and women who are receiving these government payments, getting back to work can be a lifeline to stability and self-sufficiency.”
It sounds swell. Who doesn’t want able-bodied adults to work? It’s about time we get these folks out of their hammocks and into jobs.
There’s just one problem. Work requirements don’t work.
In Iowa, there are roughly 700,000 people who receive Medicaid coverage. A single adult making less than $21,597, or 138% of the poverty level, is eligible,
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, KFF, 75% of Iowa Medicaid recipients are already working. And among those not working are disabled and sick Iowans, caregivers and full-time students.
During the last Trump administration, several states received waivers to enact work requirements. Many were stopped by court challenges. And when the Biden administration took over, the waivers were rescinded.
But some states used work requirements long enough for us to get a look at how well they worked. In Arkansas, for example, the biggest effect was 18,000 people lost coverage in nine months. KFF found the main reason was eligible recipients became tangled up in a confusing work reporting process, or they had no idea the policy was in place.
Harvard researchers found no evidence work rules increased employment or hours on the job.
Researchers found “one working Arkansas beneficiary with a chronic condition explained that he lost Medicaid and then could not afford medications, which in turn caused him to lose his job due to his deteriorating health.”
Sorry old sport. Are there no workhouses?
An Urban Institute study of similar work rules that apply to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, also found no evidence the work requirement increased employment among adults, or the number of hours worked.
We have yet to see any details of the governor’s plan. If her plan exempts Medicaid clients who are participating in job training programs, that would be a small measure of good news.
Team Trump will soon be handing out waivers. And think tanks such as the Florida-based Opportunity Solutions Project will be oh so helpful.
But anyone, Republican, Democrat or independent, who looked at the track record should conclude this is a bad idea. It won’t increase employment and will deny help to sick people who are already working. Can they meet a work barrier by toiling at low range jobs that may or may not provide regular hours to stay the eligible? While struggling with a chronic illness?
Well, they could run for the Legislature, where there is no work requirement at all.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
www.thegazette.com
Reynolds gave her big speech last week in front of a joint session of the Iowa Legislature. It’s a crowd of lawmakers who barely work four days a week at the Capitol. If they live outside Polk County, they get $178 per day to cover living expenses.
With all the special interest events and receptions, costing a total of $330,000 last year, they’re unlikely to go hungry. And lawmakers are eligible sign up for affordable, quality state health insurance.
To this august and comfortable gathering, Reynolds proposed enacting work requirements for low-income adults who receive Medicaid health coverage.
“So I’m proposing that Iowa apply for a federal waiver to institute work requirements for able-bodied adults on Medicaid,” Reynolds said.“ ”In other words, if you can work, you should. It’s common sense and good policy. For the men and women who are receiving these government payments, getting back to work can be a lifeline to stability and self-sufficiency.”
It sounds swell. Who doesn’t want able-bodied adults to work? It’s about time we get these folks out of their hammocks and into jobs.
There’s just one problem. Work requirements don’t work.
In Iowa, there are roughly 700,000 people who receive Medicaid coverage. A single adult making less than $21,597, or 138% of the poverty level, is eligible,
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, KFF, 75% of Iowa Medicaid recipients are already working. And among those not working are disabled and sick Iowans, caregivers and full-time students.
During the last Trump administration, several states received waivers to enact work requirements. Many were stopped by court challenges. And when the Biden administration took over, the waivers were rescinded.
But some states used work requirements long enough for us to get a look at how well they worked. In Arkansas, for example, the biggest effect was 18,000 people lost coverage in nine months. KFF found the main reason was eligible recipients became tangled up in a confusing work reporting process, or they had no idea the policy was in place.
Harvard researchers found no evidence work rules increased employment or hours on the job.
Researchers found “one working Arkansas beneficiary with a chronic condition explained that he lost Medicaid and then could not afford medications, which in turn caused him to lose his job due to his deteriorating health.”
Sorry old sport. Are there no workhouses?
An Urban Institute study of similar work rules that apply to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, also found no evidence the work requirement increased employment among adults, or the number of hours worked.
We have yet to see any details of the governor’s plan. If her plan exempts Medicaid clients who are participating in job training programs, that would be a small measure of good news.
Team Trump will soon be handing out waivers. And think tanks such as the Florida-based Opportunity Solutions Project will be oh so helpful.
But anyone, Republican, Democrat or independent, who looked at the track record should conclude this is a bad idea. It won’t increase employment and will deny help to sick people who are already working. Can they meet a work barrier by toiling at low range jobs that may or may not provide regular hours to stay the eligible? While struggling with a chronic illness?
Well, they could run for the Legislature, where there is no work requirement at all.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
Opinion: Medicaid work requirements don’t work
The irony was probably lost on Gov. Kim Reynolds.
www.thegazette.com
