Legislation will require Medicaid work requirements

A recently introduced state Senate bill would create work requirements for able-bodied Medicaid recipients.

Under the bill, recipients would be required to either volunteer, attend job training programs or work to continue receiving benefits. Exceptions would be made for pregnancy, disability, incarceration, or for being the primary caregiver for someone who is permanently disabled, or receiving hospice care, or is under six years old. Age exceptions will be put in place for those under the age of 18 or over the age of 65.

Those who are receiving mental health or addiction treatment also would be exempt.

The bill is sponsored by Sens. David G. Argall (R-Schuylkill) and Scott Martin (R-Lancaster).

“We do not want to place new burdens on people who legitimately are unable to work,” Argall said. “We are not trying to drag somebody out of a treatment facility or force great-grandma to work in a coal mine. Work requirements are not callous or mean-spirited. In reality, they will only lead to lower costs to taxpayers and more people climbing the economic ladder and achieving independence and self-sufficiency.”

There are approximately 500,000 nondisabled Pennsylvanians between 19 and 64 who report no income, according to the Department of Human Services.

Similar bills were vetoed by Gov. Tom Wolf in 2017 and 2018.