The reconciliation bill you’re hearing a lot about lately, otherwise known as the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” contains a long-awaited reform to our nation’s Medicaid program.
In “Congress-speak,” the pending legislation enacts a requirement for “childless, non-disabled Medicaid recipients age 19-64, starting in 2027” to be involved in “community engagement requirements.” What is a community engagement requirement?”
Again, that is Washington-speak that says that these young men must spend “80 hours in at least some months either working, going to school, participating in a work program, or doing community service.”
An AEI scholar recently took a look at why this is so controversial. It appears, according to his data, that between “40 percent and 56 percent of childless non-disabled Medicaid recipients aged 19-64 would not have been in compliance in 2022.”
The logical question then is, what do these men do that prevents them from even working part time most every month. His research points to a large swath of potential American workers who have become “Men of Leisure” –“For Medicaid recipients who do not report working, the most common activity after sleeping is watching television and playing video games. They spend 4.2 hours per day watching television and playing video games, or 125 hours during a 30-day month. That is more than 50 percent higher than the 80 hours they would be required to work or otherwise engage with the community during at least some months under the reconciliation bill.”
You can read his full analysis HERE.