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In January, the Trump administration announced huge changes to Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income Americans: It said it would support states imposing work or other “community engagement” requirements for those using the program. This would be the first time in the program’s history that states would be allowed to require Americans to work a certain number of work hours in order to be eligible. And though the work requirements include exemptions for those who are elderly, disabled, or pregnant, among others, the new policies could put millions of adults at risk of losing their insurance.
In order to implement the work requirements, states had to apply and be approved for waivers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Since then, five states—Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin—have been approved. Ten more have applied.
In Arkansas, one of the first states to begin implementing the work requirements, nearly 12,300 people have already been disenrolled from Medicaid due to non-compliance, according to state data. Thousands more are at risk of losing their insurance. Other states with approved waivers, such as Indiana and Wisconsin, hope to implement the work requirements next year.
As we continue reporting on this issue, Mother Jones wants to hear from you: Are you at risk of losing coverage because your state has applied for Medicaid work requirements? Have you recently lost coverage? Let us know in the form below, send us an email at talk@motherjones.com, or leave us a voicemail at (510) 519-MOJO. We may use some of your responses for a follow-up story.
