Pa. House approves bill to add work requirement for Medicaid

(Harrisburg) — The state House has approved legislation that could lead to work requirements for people enrolled in Medicaid.

Republican Rep. Dan Moul of Adams County is sponsoring the bill, which was approved by a count of 102-91.

It would require anyone who is physically or mentally able to either work or look for work.

Surveys have shown that most people on Medicaid are either working, taking care of family, or going to school.

Kristen Dama, an attorney with the nonprofit Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, says the bill is a solution in search of a problem.

“It’s creating a new paperwork requirement, it’s creating new administrative structure, that county assistance offices just aren’t able to handle,” says Dama. “All this requirement does is create a new level of red tape without actually moving anyone into the workforce.”

Millions of people who are enrolled in Medicaid work in restaurants, construction, schools, hospitals and grocery stores, according to surveys.

Rep. Dan Moul of Adams County didn’t respond to a request for comment on his bill.

In a statement, Governor Wolf’s spokesman JJ Abbott says Wolf “strongly opposes these backdoor changes that could have widespread and potentially life-changing effects on the health and well-being of millions of Pennsylvanians. Seniors, people with disabilities and low-income working families don’t need their lives to be made even more difficult by politicians in Harrisburg.”

He adds, “Beyond the substance of these changes, the process flies in the face of good government and these changes would cost millions of taxpayer dollars just to implement. There was no input from stakeholders or families that would be affected and no formal fiscal analysis.”