LANSING, MI (WTVB) – A bill that would require able-bodied Medicaid recipients in Michigan to find a job was approved 4-1 by the Senate Competitiveness Committee Wednesday.
The measure, sponsored by 16th District Senator Mike Shirkey of Clark Lake near Jackson, would require those Medicaid recipients to work 29 hours per week in order to continue receiving Medicaid. People would be exempt from the requirements if they met certain criteria, like being over 64, having a disability, being pregnant, or being a caretaker for a dependent with a disability or family member under the age of six.
During the national push to expand Medicaid in 2013, Governor Rick Snyder signed Healthy Michigan into law. It extended Medicaid to people making 138 percent of the federal poverty level. In 2018 that income level is $16,753 for one person or $34,638 for a family of four.
Healthy Michigan now insures 672,731 people.
Until recently, federal rules prevented states from instituting work requirements for Medicaid recipients. The Trump administration recently opened the door to such policy, approving a handful of waivers from states seeking to implement Medicaid work requirements.
The bill would require Michigan to seek such a waiver. It got a hearing in March, but Shirkey slowed it down for more input. Changes to the bill in the substitute reported Wednesday included extending the implementation timeline to Oct. 1, 2019 and delineating more exemptions, Shirkey said.
