A bill that would add work requirements for Medicaid recipients in Michigan may be headed back to a legislative committee for consideration as soon as this week.

MLive reports State Senator Mike Shirkey introduced the legislation which would require Medicaid recipients to work about 29 hours per week and include audits to see if recipients are meeting work requirements.

In January, the Centers on Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provided new guidance to assist states in incorporating work requirements for “non-disabled, working-age” Medicaid recipients through its Community Engagement Initiative.

A new brief by the Michigan League for Public Policy (MLPP) examines the implications of adding such work requirements and work status data for Healthy Michigan Plan (HMP) recipients.

The HMP available through the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), provides about 672,000 low-income residents access to health care. View the number of recipients in your county.

Highlights of the data from MLPP’s brief:

• A study from the University of Michigan showed that about 49 percent of enrollees in the Healthy Michigan Plan are employed.

• Nearly 28 percent were out of work, citing serious chronic conditions or mental health illnesses as the reason they weren’t working.

• The remaining 23 percent were either in poor health, retired, going to school or were caregivers.

• Nationally about 8 in 10 Medicaid enrollees live in a household where someone is working.

Trends and data from the Healthy Michigan Plan:

• MLPP reports that 69 percent of those enrolled in the HMP said they “did better at work once they were covered,” and those who were out of work said, “coverage made it easier for them to seek out a job.”

• The HMP has added economic activity that generates $150 million in state tax revenue annually. The Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation (CHRT), a nonprofit and nonpartisan impact organization, says this revenue offset nearly all the state’s share of Medicaid expansion costs in 2017.

• Michigan Radio reports: “The year before Healthy Michigan began, hospitals in this state spent $627 million on uncompensated care provided to sick poor people. A year after Healthy Michigan took effect that had fallen by half. All indications are that it has fallen more since then.”

MLPP states that there are potential issues facing Michigan in implementing work requirements, including a potential burden on the state to fund the infrastructure needed for oversight and implementation of work requirements.  

“Given the current status of Michigan’s budget, lower projected revenues and changes in the tax code, it is hard to identify where the state would be able to come up with funding to support these types of programs,” Emily Schwarzkopf, policy analyst at MLPP wrote in the brief.

In light of the bill under consideration in Lansing, MLPP is currently asking for testimonials about the state’s Medicaid program that they can share with our Michigan lawmakers.

Want more?

Connect with CMF’s Health Funders Affinity Group.

Read MLPP’s brief.