KDSN RADIO News
Iowa Senate GOP to seek work requirements for Medicaid
A key lawmaker says Senate Republicans will propose that most Iowans receiving government-paid Medicaid insurance coverage work, be looking for a job or be training for one.
“Health care in Iowa — it’s important that people have it, but it shouldn’t be something that keeps people in poverty,” Senator Mike Bousselot, a Republican from Ankeny, said. “Getting people job training and having them seek a job while they’re receiving free health care from taxpayers I think is a common-sense proposal that incentivizes getting back to work, incentivizes job training, and also makes sure the safety net exists, that they have health care while they’re down on their luck.”
Senate Republicans have made similar proposals in the past, but the work requirements for Medicaid coverage were not proposed for Iowans with disabilities or a parent with young children. The first Trump Administration granted waivers to several states that sought to require able-bodied citizens to work or be enrolled in school, but federal courts and then the Biden Administration blocked the policy from taking effect. Bousselot said there’s an opportunity to revisit the issue once Trump returns. “A common sense administration in Washington that’s going to work with us instead of attack us,” Bousselot said.
