Advocates Concerned About Effects Of Medicaid Work Requirement

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health3353423

The percentage of uninsured adults in rural Michigan dropped by 22 points since the state expanded Medicaid, according to a recent study by Georgetown University and the University of North Carolina. The state Legislature passed a bill this summer to require people on Healthy Michigan to work 80 hours a month, nine months a year, in order to maintain coverage. But Emily Schwarzkopf, a policy analyst with the Michigan League for Public Policy, calls that a “one step forward, two steps back” approach and predicts people will fall off the insurance rolls.

“There’s lots of data out there that shows that people lose their coverage because they are unable to navigate the paperwork and the bureaucracy at the state government level. “

Schwarzkopf notes that several University of Michigan studies have shown that Healthy Michigan has allowed people to get back into the workforce without losing their coverage, and has thus expanded the tax base. And it has reduced the need for substance-abuse treatment. The federal government is currently processing the state’s request for a waiver. If it is granted, the work requirements would take effect in 2020.