American Enterprise Institute: How Able-Bodied Medicaid Recipients Spend Their Time
The Medicaid program is a critical lifeline for the most vulnerable Americans— low-income pregnant women, children, those living with disabilities, and seniors. However, Medicaid has expanded well beyond its intended purpose and is fraught with waste, fraud, and abuse.
Currently, Medicaid lacks a work requirement for able-bodied adults. Because of Obamacare Medicaid expansion, the federal government pays states more to cover working-age, single men than it does for vulnerable pregnant women or individuals with disabilities.
H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act returns personal accountability to the Medicaid program and restores the dignity of work. In a recent piece, Kevin Corinth, Senior Fellow and the Deputy Director of the Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), highlights the vital community engagement requirements included in the House-passed reconciliation package.
WORD ON THE STREET:
Excerpts from AEI article:
“The reconciliation bill passed by the United States House of Representatives imposes community engagement requirements for childless non-disabled Medicaid recipients age 19–64, starting in 2027. The requirement can be met by spending 80 hours in at least some months either working, going to school, participating in a work program, or doing community service. In a previous analysis, I found that between 40 percent and 56 percent of childless non-disabled Medicaid recipients age 19–64 would not have been in compliance in 2022.”
“For Medicaid recipients who do not report working, the most common activity after sleeping is watching television and playing video games. They spend 4.2 hours per day watching television and playing video games, or 125 hours during a 30-day month. That is more than 50 percent higher than the 80 hours they would be required to work or otherwise engage with the community during at least some months under the reconciliation bill. They spend on average 6.1 hours per day, or 184 hours per month on all socializing, relaxing and leisure activities (including television and video games). In the average day they spend about 0.36 hours (i.e., 22 minutes) looking for work, 4.0 hours doing housework and errands, and 0.47 hours (i.e., 28 minutes) caring for others.”
“For Medicaid recipients who report working, the most common activity after sleeping is work. They work an average of 4.2 hours per day, or 126 hours per month, enough for the average working Medicaid recipient to comply with the community engagement requirement. Working Medicaid recipients spend a lower 2.7 hours per day watching television and playing video games, and a total of 4.5 hours on all socializing, relaxing and leisure activities.”
THE BOTTOM LINE:
The Medicaid program is broken, and the American public overwhelmingly supports an effective, mandatory work requirement for able-bodied adults receiving taxpayer-funded government benefits.
The American Enterprise Institute reported that the American Time Use Survey (2019, 2021-2023) found that of able-bodied Medicaid recipients without dependents, those not working spend as much time playing video games and watching TV as those who work spend on work, 4.2 hours per day. That’s 125 hours per month, over 50 percent higher than the 80 hours of community engagement the One Big Beautiful Bill Act requires.
House Republicans are committed to strengthening and protecting Medicaid so it can continue serving those who need it most, as opposed to illegal immigrants or able-bodied adults without children. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduces federal spending by $1.7 trillion over the 10-year budget window and includes common sensework requirements for able-bodied adults receiving Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
###
