May 19, 2019 #CripTheVote Chat: Medicaid Work Requirements

5/19/19 Twitter Chat: Medicaid Work Requirements

Aqua blue graphic with text: “#CripTheVote Twitter Chat, Medicaid Work Requirements, May 19, 2019, 4 pm Pacific, 5 pm Mountain, 6 pm Central, 7 pm Eastern, http://cripthevote.blogspot.com/“ On the left is a black Twitter bird icon, on the right is the illustration of a first aid kit.

Join the co-partners of #CripTheVote, Andrew Pulrang, Gregg Beratan, and Alice Wong in a Twitter chat about Medicaid work requirements and how they impact the disability community on May 19, 2019, 7 pm Eastern. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation:

On January 11, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a State Medicaid Director Letter providing new guidance for Section 1115 waiver proposals that would impose work requirements (referred to as community engagement) in Medicaid as a condition of eligibility….As of mid-January 2018, eight states (AR, AZ, IN, KS, ME, NH, UT, and WI) have pending waiver requests at CMS that would require work as a condition of eligibility for expansion adults and/or traditional populations …

On March 27, 2019 a federal judge blocked the state of Kentucky from implementing work requirements and the state of Arkansas from continuing its program: “More than 18,000 Arkansas enrollees have lost Medicaid coverage since the state began the mandate last summer” (source: Kaiser Health News).

Additional Links

Alker, Joan. (May 1, 2019). Why is Florida’s Medicaid Work Reporting Proposal the Harshest in the Country for Kids and Families? Center for Children and Families, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.

(March 14, 2019). Taking Away Medicaid for Not Meeting Work Requirements Harms People with Disabilities. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Work Requirement Waivers: Approved and Pending as of April 18, 2019. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Ku, Leighton and Erin Brantley. (May 9, 2019). New Hampshire’s Medicaid Work Requirements Could Cause More Than 15,000 to Lose Coverage. The Commonwealth Fund. 

Galewitz, Phil. (March 27, 2019). Federal Judge Again Blocks Medicaid Work Requirements. Kaiser Health News.

Hickey, John. (April 5, 2019). Medicaid work requirements part of the attempt to dismantle Obamacare. Berkeley News.

Kean, Natalie. (November 2018). Medicaid Work Requirements: The Impact on Family Caregivers and Older Adults. Justice in Aging.

Musumeci, MaryBeth and Chelsea Rice. (April 2, 2019). Ask KFF: MaryBeth Musumeci Answers 3 Questions on Kentucky, Arkansas Medicaid Work and Reporting Requirement Cases. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Ollove, Michael. (April 30, 2019). Medicaid Work Requirements Hit Roadblocks. Pew Trusts. 

Rudowitz, Robin, Musumeci, MaryBeth and Cornelia Hall. (March 25, 2019). February State Data for Medicaid Work Requirements in Arkansas. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Solomon, Judith. (January 10, 2019). Medicaid Work Requirements Can’t Be Fixed. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

How to Participate

Follow @GreggBeratan @AndrewPulrang @DisVisibility. When it’s time for the chat, search #CripTheVote on Twitter for the series of live tweets under the ‘Latest’ tab for the full conversation. 

If you don’t use Twitter, you can follow along in real time here: http://twubs.com/CripTheVote

If you might be overwhelmed by the amount of tweets and only want to see the chat’s questions so you can respond to them, check @DisVisibility’s account. The questions will be Tweeted 5-6 minutes apart. 

Another way to participate in the chat is to use this app that allows you to pause the chat if the Tweets are coming at you too fast: http://www.tchat.io/

Here is a link for people who are new to Twitter on starting an account and how to use it: https://help.twitter.com/en/new-user-faq

Here’s an article about how to participate in a Twitter chat: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/how-to-participate-in-a-twitter-chat/546805/

Check out this captioned ASL explanation of how to participate in a chat by @behearddc https://www.facebook.com/HEARDDC/videos/1181213075257528/

Introductory Tweets and Chat Questions

Welcome to the #CripTheVote chat on #Medicaid work requirements. Remember to use the #CripTheVote hashtag when you tweet. If you respond to a question such as Q1, your tweet should follow this format: “A1 [your message] #CripTheVote”

Last year @CMSgov allowed states to apply for waivers that would require employment as a condition of eligibility for #Medicaid. Here is a link to a table that lists states with pending waivers, approved waivers & implemented programs  https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/medicaid-waiver-tracker-approved-and-pending-section-1115-waivers-by-state/#Table2 #CripTheVote

On March 27, 2019 a federal judge blocked the state of Kentucky from implementing work requirements and the state of Arkansas from continuing its program: https://khn.org/news/federal-judge-again-blocks-medicaid-work-requirements/ #CripTheVote

Q1: Since 2018, what have you learned about #Medicaid work requirements and how they impact people with disabilities and chronic illnesses? #CripTheVote

Q2: States such as AZ, AK, IN, KY, MI, NH, OH, UT, WI have waivers approved that are either implemented or not implemented. If you are from one of those states, what have you seen in your local community? For everyone, what are your concerns in general? #CripTheVote

Q3 What is motive behind states and the federal government to have these work requirements? How will work requirements affect Medicaid expansion in some states? #CripTheVote

Q4 What are some of the main misconceptions about work, disability, and people who use #Medicaid? #CripTheVote

Work requirements can involve a set # of hours worked or hours spent looking for work, frequent documentation & more frequent redetermination of eligibility. 18k Arkansas enrollees lost Medicaid coverage since the work requirements last year https://khn.org/news/federal-judge-again-blocks-medicaid-work-requirements/

#CripTheVote

Q5: What is the potential and actual harm of Medicaid work requirements on disabled people, even with programs that have exemptions for “medically frail” people, caregivers, and others? https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/taking-away-medicaid-for-not-meeting-work-requirements-harms-people-with #CripTheVote

Q6: What are the consequences on families and communities when large numbers of people are no longer eligible for #Medicaid, may have to wait months & fill out lots of paperwork to re-enroll? How might this worsen health and prevent people from finding work? #CripTheVote

Q7: How can we push back against decisions by @CMSGov & the current Administration that are anti-poor and ableist? What can we do at the local level to prevent other states from instituting #Medicaid work requirements? #CripTheVote

Q8: Looking ahead to the 2020 election, how do #Medicaid work requirements figure into the larger debate on healthcare as a human right and political issue? https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/04/05/medicaid-work-requirements-part-of-the-attempt-to-dismantle-obamacare/ #CripTheVote

This concludes our #CripTheVote chat on #Medicaid work requirements. Keep the conversation going! A recap of this chat will be up shortly and check out our blog for the latest: http://cripthevote.blogspot.com/