Changes to Medicaid eligibility
in the
One Big Beautiful Bill Act
won't take effect
until January.
But advocates are worried
that new work requirements
could put coverage in jeopardy
for many in Wisconsin.
When this law was passed
I mean, the argument was that
taxpayers are going to
underwrite a benefit.
People who receive it
should be required to pitch in.
From your perspective
now that it's becoming
kind of a reality
what does this miss?
Well, I think the first thing
it misses is that
two-thirds of the people
who are in a Medicaid program
are already working.
So, for a lot of people
this now becomes
a documentation problem
to prove what they
already have been doing.
For other people who are
working part time
you now have a group
of people who has to do more
to keep their coverage.
What we know from other states
that have tried similar
experiments in the past
is that work requirements
don't actually lead to
more people working.
What they do lead to
is more people making
paperwork mistakes or
states making paperwork mistakes
that cost people
their healthcare coverage.
That's particularly serious with
the population of people
who could qualify
to be medically frail
if they make a mistake and
lose their healthcare coverage.
That could mean that
they have an illness
that isn't getting treated
that they lose care coverage
that really could literally
cost them their lives.