Work Requirements in Medicaid: Georgia’s Singular Policy Amidst Change
Georgia has become the sole state in the United States to institute work requirements in its Medicaid program.
In contrast to previous efforts by Republican-led states to impose work requirements in Medicaid, Georgia’s effort is anticipated to raise the amount of people with health insurance, as opposed to stripping coverage from countless low-income residents.
This allowed it to pass legal muster, although critics continue to disparage the program as complicated, ineffective, and costly.
There is no federal work requirement for Medicaid, yet 13 states granted permission throughout the Trump administration for requiring existing enrollees to work, volunteer, or satisfy other criteria in order to maintain health insurance coverage.
In the state of Arkansas, the only state that enacted work requirements as well as terminated coverage, more than 18,000 individuals lost coverage in 2018 prior to a federal court nullifying the state’s waiver.
The Biden administration revoked the waiver approvals after the states halted their initiatives due to litigation or the COVID-19 pandemic, and then rescinded the waiver approvals.
However, Georgia appealed the withdrawal, and in August 2022, a federal magistrate ruled in favor of the state, authorizing it to implement Pathways to Coverage.
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Georgia: Strictest Eligibility for Medicaid
Georgia has some of the most stringent eligibility for Medicaid requirements in the country. It is one of ten states that have not implemented the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of the program to all low-income adults.
In accordance with KFF, a health policy research organization, parents are only eligible if they earn less than 31% of the federal poverty level for a household of three, or roughly $7,700 this year.
Pathways to Coverage allows adults earning up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level – about $14,600 for a single person – to enroll if they work a minimum of 80 hours per month, engage in job training or community service, attend higher education classes, or satisfy other criteria.
Source: CNNviaMSN
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