LDI: A Cautionary Tale About Medicaid Work Requirements

[Atheendar Venkataramani and others] looked at the potential effects of Medicaid work requirements on Medicaid participation among those not actually subject to these requirements. [They] estimate that these “spillover effects” – which thus far have not been part of the conversation on work requirements – could be quite large. How [they] arrived at this answer is worth a bit of explanation. [Venkataramani and others] were hired to independently evaluate Kentucky’s proposed Section 1115 Medicaid waiver, which included work requirements. While creating [their] study design, [they]thought about the total effects of work requirements on Medicaid participation. [They] wondered if imposing work requirements – which focused specifically on those considered “able-bodied” – might have spillover effects on Medicaid participation among people who wouldn’t be subject to them. Read more at LDI.