Under a new policy the administration is defending in court, low-income people with cancer, HIV, Parkinson's, and other life-threatening illnesses must prove they're too sick to work or risk losing their health insurance.

A federal judge on Thursday denied a request by more than two dozen Democratic states to halt a Trump administration policy announced last month that would require Medicaid recipients with terminal diseases to prove they are too sick to work in order to be exempt from new work requirements that go into effect this coming January.

While introducing over $1 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of Americans, last year’s massive GOP tax and budget bill also imposed new 80-hour-per-month work requirements that states must implement for Medicaid expansion recipients, who receive government-subsidized insurance coverage at or below 138% of the poverty line.

The law specified that those who are “medically frail or otherwise have special medical needs” are excluded from the work requirement, and specifically listed people with a “serious or complex medical condition.” But it remained unclear what exact conditions met these criteria.

Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced a new rule stating that even if a person receives a terminal diagnosis for a disease like cancer, HIV/AIDS, or Parkinson’s, that is still not enough for them to be exempt from the work requirements.

Beginning on January 1, 2028, it says they must also demonstrate to states that their condition “significantly impairs” their ability to meet the work requirement.

  • deliriousdreams@fedia.io
    2·
    4 days ago

    Do you want your Air Traffic Controller, Pilot, firefighter, paramedic, surgeon, or Engineer in charge of your power plant working with a terminal cancer diagnosis?

    Knowing you’re dying affects your ability to focus, causes depression, and a whole host of other neurological effects that mean you’re way more likely to make mistakes, and way less likely to care about other people depending on how the news affects you.

    This is likely to kill more people who didn’t have to die than it would save the government monetarily. If I have to work to get Medicaid while I’m terminally ill, I’ll happily just not pay taxes for that and use that money for my own care when the need arises.

    The government already can come in after you die and take all your assets to pay back what you took from Medicaid. This is literally just so they can take more from your loved ones once you’re gone.

    For the record, I don’t want people in low wage or low stakes jobs working while terminally ill either. I’m just illustrating how short sighted your view is.