Iowa lawmakers advanced a bill creating work requirements for Medicaid and expanding work requirements for food stamps.
The bill, House Study Bill 248, would require that Iowa Health and Human Services, or HHS, request a federal waiver to implement work requirements for Medicaid eligibility. The bill would require that beneficiaries work 80 hours a month and allows Iowa HHS to exempt people under 19 or over 65 years old, the “medically frail”, those on unemployment, and others for good cause.
If a waiver is denied by the federal government, the bill would require Iowa HHS to discontinue the state’s Medicaid program or implement an alternate plan.
The bill also requires Iowa HHS to work with the federal government to make stricter work requirements for the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP and other public assistance programs.
The bill states the intended purpose of the requirements are to, “reduce the dependence of low-income Iowans on public assistance programs through efforts that advance economic stability and mobility.”
However, opponents of the legislation say the bill will not help increase “economic stability and mobility” of Medicaid recipients and instead will create barriers to accessing the program.
“Research has shown that imposing work requirements for programs like Medicaid and SNAP do not actually improve employment,” Luke Elzinga, the policy and advocacy manager for the Des Moines Area Religious Council, said. “They just boot people off benefit programs, leaving them in a far worse spot than they were before, and shifting the burden of care to local governments and nonprofit organizations.”
Proponents of the bill say the work requirements would make Iowans self-sufficient again and reduce the burden on taxpayers.
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“We think this is a win-win-win for employers, for beneficiaries, and for taxpayers,” Andy Conlon, a lobbyist with the Foundation for Government Accountability, a right leaning advocacy group, said. “[Taxpayers are] the folks paying the bills, and they should expect that the program is achieving its goals, helping people in their time of need, moving them into a place where they can be self-sufficient.”
The bill comes as Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds marked Medicaid work requirements as a priority in her Condition of the State address in January.
“If you can work, you should,” Reynolds said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday. “It’s common sense and good policy. For the men and women who are receiving these government payments, getting back to work can be a lifeline to stability and self-sufficiency.”
Lawmakers advanced the bill, 2-1, on Thursday with Reps. Carter Nordman, R-Panora, and Shannon Lundgren, R-Peosta, voting to advance it and Rep. Beth Wessell-Kroeschell, D-Ames, voting against the bill.
The bill will now move to full consideration by the Iowa House Health and Human Services Committee.