Medicaid Work Requirements
By 
Republicans believe in punishing the poor for their own poverty. Democrats do not. That is a fundamental difference between the parties and it’s one of a million reasons why it makes all the difference in the world who controls the White House. We saw this yet again late last week when President Biden rescinded the vile Medicaid work requirements implemented by Donald Trump.
The Biden administration is planning Friday to wipe out one of the core health policies of the Trump era, taking actions that will immediately rescind permission for states to compel poor residents to work in exchange for receiving Medicaid benefits.
Federal health officials will withdraw their predecessors’ invitation to states to apply for approval to impose such work requirements and will notify 10 states granted permission that it is about to be retracted, according to a draft plan obtained by The Washington Post and confirmed by two individuals familiar with the decision, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The actions anticipated Friday, outlined in bullet points in the draft, will come two weeks after President Biden signed an executive order instructing officials to remove barriers to Medicaid coverage. Work requirements enabled under President Donald Trump were the one policy mentioned in Biden’s directive.
In practice, the moves have little immediate effect because work requirements adopted in three states — Arkansas, Kentucky and New Hampshire — have been ruled illegal by two levels of federal courts, and other states have held back during the legal challenges to the policy. A case on such requirements is now before the Supreme Court.
Still, the swift rescinding of the Trump administration’s effort to remake the safety-net program represents a particularly sharp pendulum swing on the ideological divide over the proper roles of government and individuals living under economic strain.
Never, ever, ever let it be said that both parties are the same.