The so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” would force close to8 million people off of Medicaid – one in ten people enrolled in Medicaid nationwide. The bill’s deepest Medicaid cuts are tied to harsh new work requirements that would result in 5 to 7 million people losing their coverage, most of whom are already working, caring for loved ones, or unable to work due to an illness or injury. Work requirements are a failed policy idea that does more harm than good; their only function is to cut health coverage for low-income people to justify tax cuts for the wealthy.
These short profiles illustrate the harms proposed Medicaid work requirements would cause when applied to real life situations. This misguided, one-size fits all policy directive will not improve health or employment; it will mire workers, older adults, people with disabilities and chronic health conditions, and caregivers in unnecessary red tape that will take their Medicaid coverage away.
Congressional Republicans are considering policies that would cut funding for Medicaid through their forthcoming budget resolution. Emerging proposals could…
