Medicaid changes in Republican led states are often aligning with Trump’s efforts to dismantle Obamacare.
One state at a time, health insurance benefits are changing for those reliant on Medicaid and whose governors are Republican.
As the GOP works to take Obamacare apart, many states now have stricter Medicaid regulations.
Arkansas has become the first state to push the new health insurance benefits rule. It will require state residents to have to provide proof of their employment or volunteer status in order to keep their Medicaid coverage. As the law roles out, other states, insurers and workers are all bracing themselves for a new health care ecosystem.
Kentucky already has its health care strategy in the works, though it continues to face judicial scrutiny. Other GOP states are in various stages of progress with the new regulation in mind.
Republican governors and lawmakers say the Medicaid health insurance benefits changes are necessary.
GOP governors and state lawmakers say that requiring proof of volunteering or work helps Arkansas keep its Medicaid costs from skyrocketing, said a Reuters report. Arkansas lawmakers have said it is particularly true of their own state, which was among those to broaden their Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act.
They stated that the purpose of this move is to encourage residents in better health to seek employment or to improve their job status so that they can obtain benefits through their employers.
“It’s an element of individual responsibility that if you’re able-bodied … you should be contributing in some fashion,” said Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas. “You always want people to move up to make more wages and have a higher income so they don’t even have to qualify for Medicaid.”
That said, this new rule has caused thousands of people across the state to worry about their Medicaid health insurance benefits. Critics have stated that this will send people in Arkansas who are already among the most financially vulnerable into further struggles. These changes are also requiring health insurance companies to quickly prepare for an influx of policyholders who will need to complete their paperwork to prove their employment or volunteering status.