Another way to view this is that there are tens of millions of Americans freeloading off of their fellow Americans when they could afford their own health insurance.

U.S. states on Saturday will start to kick as many as 15 million people off Medicaid insurance, as an emergency safety net put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic comes to a gradual end.

 

Medicaid is the public health insurance program for people who have lower incomes. It is jointly administered by the state and federal governments.

Congress basically barred states from terminating Medicaid coverage during the pandemic through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The law passed in March 2020 provided a safety net for people as the first deadly wave of Covid swept the nation and lockdowns crippled the U.S. economy.

 

Medicaid coverage swelled to more than 85 million people as of December, a 25% increase from February 2020, before the requirements to keep people enrolled in the program took effect, according to data from the Health and Human Services Department.

85 million.

EIGHTY FIVE MILLION.

Over a quarter of Americans are on a federal government program designed to be a safety net for poor people. In a time of full employment and plentiful jobs, over 25% of Americans (and, I’m sure, plenty of non-Americans) are on Medicaid. That’s ridiculous.

Excellent!

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a guidance Thursday outlining what states need to do to mandate that certain Medicaid enrollees work to qualify for benefits. The agency is expected to start approving state waivers promoting “community engagement activities” in coming weeks.

The historic move would be a significant change in how the government health insurance program operates and would fulfill a longtime Republican goal. States, for instance, could require non-disabled, working age recipients to work, volunteer, go to school or enter a job training program. The guidance also includes caregiving as one of the activities.

Wisconsin is already pioneering in this arena. I like that the federal government is allowing it, but not requiring it. If the liberals in California don’t want to require some work for taxpayer-funded benefits, then that’s up to them.