Study: Arkansas Medicaid work requirement cuts coverage to thousands who are employed

The Medicaid work requirement plan devised by Arkansas and approved by the Trump administration caused thousands of adults with low incomes to lose coverage without any evidence the target population gained jobs, a new study finds (Source: “Study: Arkansas Medicaid Work Requirement Hits Those Already Employed,” Kaiser Health News, June 19, 2019).

In fact, the requirement had only a limited chance for success as nearly 97% of Arkansas residents ages 30-49 who were eligible for Medicaid — those subject to the mandate — were already employed or should have been exempt from the new law, according to the study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Yet the state’s mandate — the first of its kind in the nation — resulted in 18,000 of the 100,000 targeted people falling off the Medicaid rolls. And despite administration officials’ statements that many of them may have found jobs, the study by researchers at Harvard found no evidence they secured either jobs or other insurance coverage. In fact, it noted a dip in the employment rate among those eligible for Medicaid.

In response to questions about whether the findings mean the administration should pull the plug on work requirements, co-author Benjamin Sommers, a professor of health policy and economics at Harvard, replied, “It’s time for them to pump the brakes at the very least.”

In March, a federal judge struck down Arkansas’ mandate and a plan to begin one in Kentucky. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled the work requirement violated federal law because it failed to meet the core objective of Medicaid — getting medical coverage to the poor. The Trump administration is appealing that ruling and, meanwhile, has approved similar plans in eight other states, including New Hampshire, which is scheduled to start cutting coverage in August for those not meeting the rules.

Six more states, including Ohio, have pending applications to add work mandates.