Medicaid Crackdown Could Worsen States' Opioid Addiction Problem
Critics say adding work requirements to Medicaid could worsen the opioid epidemic, but Republicans are promising no one will fall through the cracks.
LEARN MOREPosted: 6:51 p.m. EST Jan 12, 2018
On Thursday, President Donald Trump's administration said states could impose work requirements for Medicaid benefits. Just a day later, Kentucky took them up on that offer.
Kentucky says able-bodied adults need to prove they've done at least 80 hours of work a month to get their benefits. Those 80 hours can be from a job, volunteer work or job training.
It's not clear how many people in Kentucky will be affected by the new rules. Though aides to the Kentucky governor estimate about half of the state's working-age and able-bodied Medicaid recipients will already meet the new requirements.
But at a national level, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 60 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries are already working.
Nine other states have asked the Trump administration for Medicaid work requirement waivers.
