Do you receive Medicaid and are able to work? You may be required to get a job in order to keep your benefits.
Local state lawmakers are backing legislation that would require healthy, adult Medicaid recipients to find part-time work or engage in job training to continue receiving benefits.
“The goal with any welfare reform measure is to ensure benefits are available to those who truly need them while also taking steps to encourage people who are able to regain independence from government aid,” said state Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint.
He said he believes the bill meets goals relating to the state’s Medical Assistance program.
The state House passed House Bill 2138 that instructs the state Department of Human Services to put together a waiver seeking authority from the federal government to implement Medicaid work requirements for able-bodied adults. The House Health Committee approved House Bill 1659 that strengthens work requirements for Pennsylvania’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
“Basically, the bill requires any able-bodied person receiving MA benefits to meet work requirements, but it also outlines a number of exceptions to ensure people who aren’t able to work continue to receive the assistance,” Causer said. “Taxpayers who fund programs like Medical Assistance deserve to know their hard-earned money is going to people who truly need it.”
State Sen. President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, said taxpayers deserve to know their money is being invested wisely.
“I look forward to reviewing this legislation once the Senate receives the bill,” he said.
Half of healthy adults on Medicaid are unemployed, said officials at Commonwealth Foundation.
Work and community service requirements are common across the country, officials at Commonwealth Foundation said. Throughout the United States, 79 percent of voters support work requirements for healthy adults on food stamps. In Pennsylvania, two-thirds of likely voters back work and community service requirements for healthy adults on Medicaid.
“Work is the most effective way to alleviate poverty,” said Nathan Benefield, vice president and chief operating officer for the Commonwealth Foundation. “But our broken Medicaid system discourages work rather than promoting it. This legislation is a major step towards creating a clear and permanent pathway to independence for thousands of Pennsylvanians.”
In Pennsylvania, work is waived in nine counties.
“Other states have already seen success in implementing work requirements. Currently, 17 states require all healthy adults without dependents to work part time or volunteer part time to maintain food stamp benefits,” Commonwealth Foundation officials said.
In Kansas, food stamp work requirements resulted in 75 percent of recipients leaving the program and half of those individuals saw incomes increase by 127 percent. Meanwhile, in Maine, individuals who departed the food stamp program following work requirements witnessed their incomes more than double.
“While work requirements can help put beneficiaries’ lives back on solid ground, the benefits extend beyond the individual,” Benefield said. “Employers will have an easier time filling jobs, taxpayers’ costs will decline, and government resources will be preserved for those most in need. It’s time for the Senate to follow the House’s lead and advance commonsense work requirements.”
Officials at organizations throughout the state, including Life and Independence for Today of St. Marys that serves people with disabilities, did not immediately return emails for comment for this story.
