The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved Wisconsin's Medicaid work requirements waiver, making the state the fifth to receive approval for the controversial programs.
Republican Gov. Scott Walker thanked CMS Administrator Seema Verma on Oct. 31 and said the program is designed to help Wisconsinites find employment.
"With more people working in Wisconsin than ever before, we can't afford to have anyone on the sidelines: we need everyone in the game," Walker said in the statement. "We want to remove barriers to work and make it easier to get a job while making sure public assistance is available for those who truly need it."
Medicaid recipients between the ages of 19 and 49 will be required to work or participate in a worker training program for 80 hours a month once the proposal takes effect, with certain exceptions for those who are unable to do so. The Medicaid waiver, called BadgerCare Reform, is a package of multiple changes to the state's Medicaid program that include expanding treatment coverage for substance abuse, establishing an $8-per-household monthly premium and adding a requirement for recipients to complete a health risk assessment questionnaire.
Wisconsin is now the fifth state to have a work requirement program approved, while nine states currently have waivers pending with CMS, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Arkansas is the only state that has so far implemented a work requirements program, which has been criticized since it took effect in June. So far, nearly 8,500 people have lost coverage in Arkansas, while another 4,841 are at risk of losing their coverage at the end of October.
Similar to Walker, Cindy Gillespie, director of the Arkansas Department of Human Services, said the program was motivated by compassion and is designed to help people find jobs. Verma has also repeated the same defense of the programs.
Kentucky was the first state to receive approval from CMS for a work requirements program, but it was blocked by a federal judge in June for not taking into account that 95,000 people could lose coverage if implemented. Arkansas has a similar lawsuit filed against it, which is being overseen by the same judge who issued the Kentucky ruling.