The State of Iowa is seeking Trump Administration approval of work requirements for some of the 170,000 Iowa adults enrolled in Medicaid under expanded income guidelines.
Governor Kim Reynolds said it’s about “promoting a culture of work” among “able bodied” adults under the age of 65 who get government-paid insurance coverage. The waiver request would require at least 100 hours of work per month. Representative Carter Nordman, a Republican from Dallas Center, has worked a bill that would require this group of Medicaid recipients to show they work at least 80 hours per month.
“I think 100 hours is also fair,” Nordman said late yesterday. “It’s 25 hours per week, still very much below a full time job.”
While the Reynolds Administration has begun the process of seeking a waiver for Medicaid work requirements, Nordman said Republican lawmakers still plan to pass a bill that outlines the policy.
“Just to ensure that future administrations have to get legislative consent to change the requirement,” Nordman said.
Under the bill and the state’s waiver request, Iowans with disabilities or who are the primary caregiver for a relative or a child under the age of six are among those on a list of people who would be exempted from the work requirement.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services estimates around 30,000 Iowans could lose Medicaid coverage if the federal government grants the work requirement waiver. Federal regulations require the state agency to host two public hearings and accept public comments on the waiver request over the next 30 days.