The New Work Requirement for Medicaid

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on January 11, 2018 announced a new policy that would allow states to impose work as a requirement for Medicaid eligibility.¹ Under the new policy, “work” is also referred to as community engagement and includes employment, volunteering, job search or job training programs; beneficiaries would be required to work 20 hours per week.² Pregnant women, the disabled, the elderly, the medically frail and children are exempted.³