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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Tag: Medicaid

Medicaid Work Requirements – Arkansas

Thousands of Arkansas Medicaid recipients must start working in June, By Tami Luhby, March 5, 2018, CNN Money: “Tens of thousands of low-income Arkansas residents will have to start working in June if they want to keep their Medicaid benefits. The state received approval from the Trump administration Monday to impose work requirements on certain non-elderly, non-disabled beneficiaries who don’t have dependent children at home. It joins Kentucky and Indiana in being granted such a waiver, but Arkansas plans to put the requirement into effect earlier than the other states…”

Medicaid Spending to School Districts

Medicaid’s little-known benefits for millions of US students, By Anna Gorman and Carmen Heredia Rodriguez, March 6, 2018, CNN: “Gerardo Alejandrez used to punch classmates, throw chairs and curse at his teachers, conduct that forced him to switch from school to school. ‘I had a lot of anger issues,’ the 16-year-old said recently. Then Gerardo entered a class at Oakland Technical High School for students who have mental health or behavior issues. In that classroom, the teacher gets support from Erich Roberts, a psychiatric social worker assigned to the group. Oakland Unified School District bills Medicaid, the nation’s insurance program for low-income residents, for Roberts’ services…”

State Medicaid Programs

  • All those Medicaid experiments? States often fail to evaluate the results, By Phil Galewitz, February 26, 2018, Governing: “With federal spending on Medicaid experiments soaring in recent years, a congressional watchdog said state and federal governments fail to adequately evaluate if the efforts improve care and save money…”
  • Tens of thousands of Medicaid recipients don’t pay their premiums, By Phil Galewitz, February 28, 2018, CNN Money: “When Arkansas lawmakers debated whether to renew the state’s Medicaid expansion in 2016, many Republican lawmakers were swayed only if some of the 300,000 adults who gained coverage would have to start paying premiums. This ‘skin-in-the-game’ provision — endorsed by conservatives in Washington and in many statehouses — is designed to make Medicaid recipients value their government health insurance more and lead healthier lives…”