Seema Verna, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services just stated on November 7 that U.S. states will be allowed to impose work requirements for people on Medicaid: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-work-requirements-top-federal-official-says/
Link to Remarks by Administrator Seema Verma at the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) 2017 Fall Conference: https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-sheets/2017-Fact-Sheet-items/2017-11-07.html
The government will give states broader leeway in running their Medicaid programs and allow them to impose work requirements on enrollees, a top federal health official said Tuesday in outlining how the Trump administration plans to put its mark on the insurance program for low-income Americans.
Seema Verma, who heads the Health and Human Services Department's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, did not spare criticisms of the Obama administration and called its opposition to work requirements "soft bigotry."
"Believing that community engagement requirements do not support the objectives of Medicaid is a tragic example of the soft bigotry of low expectations consistently espoused by the prior administration," Verma said in a sweeping address to the National Association of Medicaid Directors. "Those days are over."
The speech was Verma's most detailed public explanation of how she plans to approach Medicaid in a highly politicized era in which Republicans still hope to roll back its expansion under the Affordable Care Act as well as enact future spending cuts through their various health-care bills.
Waivers are a major way the Trump administration can reshape Medicaid. A half-dozen states have applied or soon will apply to require program enrollees to get a job or do some kind of community volunteering as a condition of their coverage.
Verma has long supported such requirements, which the Obama administration uniformly rejected, but Tuesday was the first time she explicitly promised that her agency would approve this type of waiver request.
"The thought that a program designed for our most vulnerable citizens should be used as a vehicle to serve working-age, able-bodied adults does not make sense," she said.
Some officials from states currently asking to implement work or community engagement requirements were pleased at Verma's declaration of support, including Kentucky Medicaid commissioner Stephen Miller.
"You heard what was said today, and we're right in sync with that," Miller said. He said he's expecting notification "soon" from CMS that Kentucky's waiver request has been approved. The state is hoping to set its new requirements in motion starting the middle of 2018.
Link to Remarks by Administrator Seema Verma at the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) 2017 Fall Conference: https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-sheets/2017-Fact-Sheet-items/2017-11-07.html
One of the things that states have told us time and time again is that they want more flexibility to engage their working-age, able bodied citizens on Medicaid. They want to develop programs that will help them break the chains of poverty and live up to their fullest potential. We support this.
As Medicaid has expanded to able-bodied individuals, the needs of this population are even more imperative. These are individuals who are physically capable of being actively engaged in their communities, whether it be through working, volunteering, going to school or obtaining job training. Let me be clear to everyone in this room, we will approve proposals that promote community engagement activities.
Every American deserves the dignity and respect of high expectations and as public officials we should deliver programs that instill hope and say to each beneficiary that we believe in your potential.
For the future of our country, we need all Americans to be active participants in their communities. Currently, the labor-force participation rate for men 25 to 54 is lower than it was during the Great Depression. To maintain the continued strength of the American economy, this must change. But this isn't just about the strength of our economy, it is also vital for the quality of life of our beneficiaries. For people living with disabilities, CMS has long believed that meaningful work is essential to their economic self-sufficiency, self-esteem, wellbeing and improving their health. Why would we not believe that the same is true for working age, able-bodied Medicaid enrollees?
Believing that community engagement requirements do not support or promote the objectives of Medicaid is a tragic example of the soft bigotry of low expectations consistently espoused by the prior administration. Those days are over.
We owe our fellow citizens more than just giving them a Medicaid card, we owe a card with care, and more importantly a card with hope. Hope that they can achieve a better future for themselves and their families. Hope that they can one day break the chains of generational poverty and no longer need public assistance, and the hope that every American, no matter their race, creed, or origin, can reach their highest potential. We will approve proposals that accomplish this goal.
