President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act that’s making its way through Congress proposes cutting billions from Medicaid. The program, which is funded through both federal and state dollars, covers medical care and other services for low income Americans. Here in Maine, state officials, health care providers and advocates say the proposed cuts would have drastic consequences. To get a better understanding of how Maine could be affected, Maine Public’s Patty Wight sat down with All Things Considered Host, Nicole Ogrysko.
Nicole Ogrysko: One of the major proposals in this budget is to institute work requirements in the Medicaid program. So what are these requirements and who would be subject to them?
Patty Wight: The work requirements would apply to adults up to age 64 who are enrolled in MaineCare – which is what we call the Medicaid program in Maine. That would be about 86,000 people, according to state officials. And they would be required to work at least 80 hours a month or be enrolled in an educational program, unless they qualify for an exemption. Generally speaking, that could include parents of young children and people who are considered medically frail.
NO: So this is aimed at Medicaid recipients who are able to work, so why are some people concerned about these requirements?
PW: Well, critics of this point out that most adults enrolled in Medicaid who are under 65 already work or would be exempt. And they say a couple of other states have tried imposing work requirements and they haven’t boosted employment of people enrolled in Medicaid. In one of those states, Arkansas, 18,000 people lost coverage. And research has found it wasn’t because they weren’t eligible. It was primarily because they had trouble filing the necessary documents to show that they worked. The process was just onerous and confusing. Here in Maine, Sara Gagné Holmes, who’s the commissioner of Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services, estimates that more than 30,000 Mainers who are eligible for Medicaid would likely lose coverage because of red tape.
