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Changes to Medicaid eligibility

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in the

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One Big Beautiful Bill Act

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won't take effect

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until January.

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But advocates are worried

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that new work requirements

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could put coverage in jeopardy

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for many in Wisconsin.

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When this law was passed

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I mean, the argument was that

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taxpayers are going to

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underwrite a benefit.

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People who receive it

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should be required to pitch in.

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From your perspective

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now that it's becoming

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kind of a reality

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what does this miss?

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Well, I think the first thing

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it misses is that

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two-thirds of the people

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who are in a Medicaid program

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are already working.

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So, for a lot of people

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this now becomes

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a documentation problem

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to prove what they

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already have been doing.

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For other people who are

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working part time

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you now have a group

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of people who has to do more

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to keep their coverage.

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What we know from other states

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that have tried similar

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experiments in the past

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is that work requirements

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don't actually lead to

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more people working.

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What they do lead to

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is more people making

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paperwork mistakes or

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states making paperwork mistakes

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that cost people

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their healthcare coverage.

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That's particularly serious with

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the population of people

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who could qualify

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to be medically frail

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if they make a mistake and

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lose their healthcare coverage.

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That could mean that

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they have an illness

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that isn't getting treated

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that they lose care coverage

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that really could literally

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cost them their lives.