State Medicaid Leaders Must Decide Who’s Too Medically Frail to Meet New Work Requirements

(Photo by Chris Bergin for KFF Health News via the North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – Eliza Brader worries she soon will need to prove she’s working to continue receiving Medicaid health coverage. She doesn’t think she should have to.

The 27-year-old resident of Bloomington, Indiana, has a pacemaker and a painful joint disease. She also has fused vertebrae in her neck from a spinal injury, preventing her from turning her head.

Indiana’s Medicaid agency currently considers Brader “medically frail,” giving her access to an expanded set of benefits, such as physical therapy.

New federal rules will require more than 18 million Medicaid enrollees nationwide to show they’re working, volunteering, or going to school for 80 hours a month starting in 2027 to keep their coverage. Brader is exempt as long as she’s deemed medically frail.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.

(North Dakota Monitor) – ENTER STORY HERE. Click the image on the left to replace. Be sure to use MEDIUM size and choose left alignment. Don’t forget to also add the image in featured media and select no image.