Wall Street Journal Op-Ed: “My Son is Counting on Medicaid Work Requirements”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Medicaid program is a vital safety net for low-income children, pregnant women, individuals with disabilities, and seniors. Its original mission has been undermined by the unchecked expansion under ObamaCare, which shifted funding and focus away from the most vulnerable and towards able-bodied, working-age adults without dependents.
Currently, Medicaid has no federal work requirement and states receive more federal funds to cover able-bodied adults than they do for vulnerable individuals with severe medical needs.
WORD ON THE STREET
Excerpts from the Wall Street Journal:
“ObamaCare gave states a financial incentive to treat able-bodied adults better than the disabled. The federal government gives states $9 for every $1 they spend on able-bodied adults, but only $1.33 for every dollar spent on children, people with disabilities, pregnant women and seniors. Drawn by the promise of so much federal money, Arkansas’s Democratic governor expanded Medicaid in 2013. The program now covers more than 230,000 able-bodied adults.
Because able-bodied adults bring so much money, Arkansas makes them a priority. We applied for in-home care in 2023, but state officials said it would take 10 years. Democrats are doing everything they can to keep my son on the wait list. They’re trying to frighten Republicans into abandoning work requirements by claiming they’re ineffective, unnecessary and cruel—none of which is true.
In 2018 the Trump administration gave Arkansas a waiver that let it require able-bodied adults without children to work part time as a condition of receiving Medicaid benefits. A federal judge struck down the waiver on procedural grounds 10 months after the policy began to phase in. Yet the work requirement already had strong results.
In less than a year, nearly 18,000 able-bodied adults increased their incomes enough to get off Medicaid. States should encourage people to replace government dependency with financial independence, protecting Medicaid for people like my son. But Democrats and their allies now claim there wasn’t a corresponding increase in the number of people working. They also claim that people left Medicaid because they didn’t know about the work requirement and therefore didn’t fill out the paperwork. All these false claims are intended to convince Republicans that work requirements are difficult for states to administer."
THE BOTTOM LINE
Nick Stehle, a father from Arkansas, knows firsthand the ripple effects of misguided government policies. His 17-year-old son, who lives with severe autism and epilepsy, is stuck on a waitlist for the in-home care he desperately needs. Why? Because the Medicaid program prioritizes federal dollars for able-bodied adults without dependents who refuse to work, taking away dollars from the most vulnerable.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act ensures that families like Nick’s receive the care they deserve, while also cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse in our Medicaid system. It’s time to prioritize the truly vulnerable and stop overburdening the system with able-bodied individuals who choose not to work.
The American people overwhelmingly support work requirements for able-bodied adults receiving government assistance. House Republicans are leading on this issue through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act:
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Returns accountability to Medicaid and prioritizes vulnerable Americans over able-bodied adults.
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Requires 80 hours per month of work, education, or community service for able-bodied adults receiving benefits.
House Republicans are committed to protecting Medicaid for those who need it and preserving the dignity of work for those who can.
MORE FROM THE HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE
Read H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act HERE.
