DeWine submits Medicaid work requirement request

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has officially asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to approve Medicaid work requirements (Source: “Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine officially requests federal approval for Medicaid work requirements,” Ohio Capital Journal, March 4). 
 
Under the proposal, to qualify for enrollment in Group VIII under Ohio's Medicaid expansion, recipients would need to be at least 55 years old, employed, be enrolled in school or a job training program, be in a recovery program, or have a serious physical or mental health illness.
 
In 2018, The Ohio Department of Medicaid reported that 94% of Medicaid expansion enrollees were either employed, in school, taking care of family members (such as children or grandchildren), participating in an alcohol and drug treatment program or dealing with intensive physical health and/or a mental health illness.
 
DeWine sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. asking to approve the work requirements on Friday. Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman and Ohio Senate President Rob McColley also signed the letter. 

More than a dozen states had Medicaid work requirement programs approved during Trump’s first administration. Two states, Georgia and Arkansas, are now in the process of scaling the requirements back after unforeseen expenses and administrative burdens.