{"id":128,"date":"2026-06-02T04:41:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T04:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=128"},"modified":"2026-06-02T04:41:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T04:41:36","slug":"the-trump-administration-is-taking-a-strict-approach-to-medicaid-work-requirements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=128","title":{"rendered":"The Trump Administration Is Taking a Strict Approach to Medicaid Work Requirements"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Trump administration signaled Monday it\u2019s taking a muscular approach to one of its signature and most controversial health initiatives: new work requirements that could force millions of low-income people off Medicaid.<\/p>\n

Read more Senate Republicans Aren\u2019t Moving on From Trump\u2019s \u2018Anti-Weaponization\u2019 Fund<\/a><\/p>\n

The new regulation \u2014 anxiously awaited by states who are due to implement the work requirements Jan. 1 \u2014 takes a stricter stance on verification and exemptions than state officials and patient advocates had hoped for. Administration officials said they sought to minimize enrollee paperwork and ensure everyone eligible for a work exemption receives it, while closing the door to fraud.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re forgiving but we\u2019re not foolish,\u201d Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, said at a press briefing.<\/p>\n

The regulations, while weedy, will affect how many millions of Americans could drop off Medicaid under a raft of new requirements included in President Donald Trump\u2019s tax bill that congressional Republicans passed last year.<\/p>\n

Starting next year, those on expanded Medicaid \u2014 about 20 million people who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty line \u2014 will have to work, go to school or volunteer at least 80 hours a week to remain qualified for the program. They can be exempted if they\u2019re pregnant, disabled, medically frail, in substance-abuse treatment or are full-time caregivers for a family member.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your condition significantly impairs your ability to engage in work \u2026 then you are likely not subject to the work requirements,\u201d Dan Brillman, the director of Medicaid, said at the briefing.<\/p>\n

Patient advocates had been especially concerned about the details around the medical frailty exemption \u2014 what qualifies and how people must prove they are medically frail before being allowed to enroll.<\/p>\n

The Monday regulation \u2014 using language that goes further than the law \u2014 stresses that the condition must \u201csignificantly impair\u201d one\u2019s ability to comply with the work requirement.<\/p>\n

It also gives Medicaid patients a one-year runway where they can self-attest to qualifying for an exemption. But in 2028, they\u2019ll have to start providing documentation like an insurance claim or a doctor note if the state isn\u2019t able to find documentation on its own, CMS officials said.<\/p>\n

That could eventually make it harder for people who aren\u2019t considered disabled but nonetheless have life-altering medical conditions like sickle cell disease, uncontrolled diabetes or cancer to get excused from the work requirements, patient advocates said.<\/p>\n

Lisa Lacasse, the president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, said the rule \u201cpiles on additional documentation and logistical challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Will Scrap His \u2018Anti-Weaponization\u2019 Fund Demands For Now<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cCancer will not wait while Medicaid offices sift through paperwork,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Many states and patient advocates had hoped the administration would take a lighter approach to the new rules, allowing people to skip providing documentation altogether. CMS officials stressed they\u2019re taking a \u201cdata-first\u201d approach where states must exhaust other channels of verifying a patient\u2019s condition before asking them to document it.<\/p>\n

Medicaid work requirements have been a longtime Republican priority. The first Trump administration tried to let states volunteer for work requirements, but those efforts were largely blocked by the courts. Now federal health officials stress Medicaid should incentivize people to improve their circumstances instead of staying in the program long term.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor able-bodied adults \u2026 Medicaid should be a short-term hand up, not a lifetime handout,\u201d the new regulation said.<\/p>\n

The Department of Health and Human Services also released an internal study Monday that found the requirements could reduce poverty by as many as 2.9 million people.<\/p>\n

The new work requirements will result in 5.3 million more uninsured people a decade from now, according to the Congressional Budget Office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are literally decisions that will determine whether millions of people will lose coverage,\u201d said Anthony Wright, the executive director of the consumer-advocacy group Families USA.<\/p>\n

Brian Blase, the president of the conservative Paragon Health Institute, whose work influences administration policies, had urged the administration to prohibit self-attestation. He points to how fraud skyrocketed in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces after the Biden administration paused verification rules during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

He said the regulation \u201cstrikes the appropriate balance between necessary program-integrity protections and accommodations for those who genuinely need assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Pentagon Cannot Remove Transgender Service Members, Appellate Court Says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New rules would help determine whether millions will fall off the program over the next decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-care"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Trump Administration Is Taking a Strict Approach to Medicaid Work Requirements - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=128\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Trump Administration Is Taking a Strict Approach to Medicaid Work Requirements - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New rules would help determine whether millions will fall off the program over the next decade.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=128\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-02T04:41:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=128#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=128\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"The Trump Administration Is Taking a Strict Approach to Medicaid Work Requirements\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-02T04:41:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=128\"},\"wordCount\":731,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=128#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/54fb33b6fca96bdcc27f725557fc77de-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Health Care\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=128#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=128\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=128\",\"name\":\"The Trump Administration Is Taking a Strict Approach to Medicaid Work Requirements - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=128#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=128#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/54fb33b6fca96bdcc27f725557fc77de-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-02T04:41:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=128#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=128\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=128#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/54fb33b6fca96bdcc27f725557fc77de-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/54fb33b6fca96bdcc27f725557fc77de-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks at a news conference on efforts to combat fraud, in the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Washington. 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