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17h ago

Senate Prepares to Debate Medicaid Work Requirements That Could Cut Millions from Coverage

Budget analysts project massive disenrollment as the Senate prepares to debate strict monthly work quotas in Medicaid

Great Society, Meet Cruelty: President Lyndon Johnson signs the Medicare Bill into law while former President Harry S. Truman, whom Johnson praised as "the real daddy of Medicare," observes during a ceremony at the Truman Library in Independence, Mo. On Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Medicaid work requirements have a "moral component" to them because people on Medicaid who "refuse" to work are "defrauding the system." (AP Photo)
Working It: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, shown here at a news conference on May 20. On Sunday, he said on CBS's "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that Medicaid work requirements have a "moral component" to them because people on Medicaid who "refuse" to work are "defrauding the system."
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson after the House narrowly passed a bill forwarding President Donald Trump's agenda at the U.S. Capitol on May 22, 2025.
Protesters hold up signs inside of a markup meeting with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce committee on Capitol Hill on May 13, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/TNS)

Overview

  • The House bill would require able-bodied enrollees without dependents to log 80 hours of work or volunteering each month to keep coverage.
  • The Congressional Budget Office estimates about 1.5 million people would lose Medicaid if work requirements go national under the broader reconciliation package.
  • Arkansas’s 2018 pilot saw 18,000 people disenrolled in four months largely because they could not navigate new reporting systems.
  • Hospitals and clinics warn that coverage losses will raise uncompensated care, strain budgets and could force service cuts or closures.
  • Supporters argue the policy enforces personal responsibility and reduces federal health spending while opponents say it harms vulnerable workers and funds tax cuts.