Behind the GOP's push for 'fairness' lies a costly, ineffective plan that jeopardizes health care for millions

How Medicaid Work Requirements Do More Harm Than Good

Hey Small Biters,

Gone are the days when Republicans vilified the so-called "welfare queen." Today’s conservative narrative has pivoted toward a new villain: unemployed adults who receive Medicaid. The party's latest legislative priority, a sweeping bill passing through Congress, seeks to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients—an act projected to cut $300 billion over a decade by stripping health insurance from 7.6 million people.

Trump-aligned figures like RFK Jr., Mehmet Oz, and others claim this policy promotes fairness, casting Medicaid as a form of welfare that fosters dependency. But the rhetoric conceals a crucial fact: only about 8% of Medicaid recipients are non-working, able-bodied adults without dependents. The rest either work, care for others, or are incapable of full-time employment due to health or other factors.

---

Even if this small percentage were the target, the policy's mechanics would primarily ensnare people who do qualify—through endless paperwork and byzantine reporting requirements. The savings, therefore, aren’t from incentivizing work, but from bureaucratic hurdles that force qualified recipients off the rolls.