New rules will make it far harder to get Medicaid and stay covered
Damian Dovarganes/AP
Tara covers the business of health care. Her stories focus on hospitals, doctors, and how their business practices affect patients — especially when private equity gets involved. She also writes about health insurance and ideas for improving our broken health system. You can reach Tara on Signal at tarabannow.70.Chelsea covers the Department of Health and Human Services with a particular focus on power and influence at the top. Confidential tips can be sent via Signal at chelseacirruzzo.42.Daniel covers the intersection of the health industry and the federal government. He reports on corporate influence in government, the health consequences of federal policies, and the politics of health care. Confidential tips can be sent on Signal at danielp.100.
Medicaid leaders and advocates say they’re shocked by the Trump administration’s harsh directives for implementing Medicaid work requirements, which they say mark a pivot from how federal officials had characterized their plans just weeks ago.
Much of the conversation around the nearly 400-page rule that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released Monday afternoon centers on one of the ways that people can be exempted from work requirements: medical frailty. Getting that exemption will be more difficult than most people had expected, meaning that more sick and disabled people are likely to lose their Medicaid coverage.
