The Trump administration released its interim final rule on Medicaid requirements, and it’s just as cruel as you'd expect. From my colleague Julia Métraux:
On Monday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its interim final rule on Medicaid work requirements, mandating that everyone who seeks Medicaid support has to prove they are unable to work to a greater extent, even if they have already been diagnosed with a debilitating condition like sickle cell disease—and even if they are already on Medicaid.
This goes even further than what Nebraska, a deeply red state that voluntarily enacted its own work requirements, mandates. Jennifer Wagner, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ director of Medicaid eligibility and enrollment, told Julia that she believed the new rule was directly driven by the White House.
Though the rule isn’t final yet, as Julia writes, "there is no way to implement Medicaid work requirements without disabled and chronically ill people losing their access to the program."
We’re talking about people with serious illnesses and some of the neediest people in the country. Let that sink in.
—Inae Oh
P.S. We've got a fascinating online conversation coming up on Tuesday, June 9, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT about the demise of the Voting Rights Act and what effect that may have on the midterms. Here’s the registration link.
