Federal

Jobs and Opportunities for Medicaid Act

Source: Congress.gov · 591 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes Medicaid (a federal and state health insurance program for low-income people) to require able-bodied adults to work or volunteer. Starting January 1, 2024, states would not have to provide Medicaid medical assistance to able-bodied adults who don't meet the work requirement for that month.

Who It Affects

State Medicaid agencies and programs. Adults enrolled in state Medicaid programs who are considered able-bodied.

Key Provisions

• States must not provide Medicaid medical assistance to able-bodied adults who don't meet the work requirement each month, beginning January 1, 2024. (Sec. 2(1)(C)) • An able-bodied adult meets the work requirement if they work at least 20 hours per week (calculated as a monthly average) OR volunteer at least 20 hours per week (calculated as a monthly average). (Sec. 2(2)(1)(A) and (B)) • "Able-bodied adult" does not include: people under 18 or over 65, people medically certified as physically or mentally unfit for work, pregnant people, primary parents or caretakers of children under 6, primary parents or caretakers of children with serious medical conditions or disabilities, people receiving unemployment compensation while following that program's work rules, or people participating in drug or alcohol treatment programs. (Sec. 2(2)(2))

What Changes

Medicaid state programs would be required to deny medical assistance to able-bodied adults who don't work or volunteer at least 20 hours weekly, unless they fall into a specific exemption category listed above.

Important Definitions

The bill defines "able-bodied adult" to mean individuals who do not fall into seven specific categories: age-related, disability-related, pregnancy-related, caregiving-related, unemployment compensation-related, or treatment program-related exemptions. (Sec. 2(2)(2))

Effective Date

January 1, 2024. (Sec. 2(1)(C))

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1063 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to implement a minimum work requirement for able-bodied adults enrolled in State Medicaid programs. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 29, 2023 Mr. KENNEDY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to implement a minimum work requirement for able-bodied adults en- rolled in State Medicaid programs. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Jobs and Opportunities 4 for Medicaid Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR ABLE-BODIED ADULTS. 6 Section 1902 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 7 1396a) is amended— 8 (1) in subsection (a)— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1063.IS S1063 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1063 IS (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para- 1 graph (86); 2 (B) by striking the period at the end of 3 paragraph (87) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (C) by inserting after paragraph (87) the 5 following new paragraph: 6 ‘‘(88) beginning January 1, 2024, not provide 7 medical assistance with respect to a month to an 8 able-bodied adult (as defined in subsection (uu)(2)) 9 that has not met the work requirement described in 10 subsection (uu)(1) for such month.’’; and 11 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 12 section: 13 ‘‘(uu) WORK REQUIREMENT FOR ABLE-BODIED 14 ADULTS.— 15 ‘‘(1) WORK REQUIREMENT DESCRIBED.—For 16 purposes of subsection (a)(88), the work require- 17 ment described in this subsection with respect to an 18 able-bodied adult and a month is that such adult 19 satisfies at least one of the following with respect to 20 such month: 21 ‘‘(A) The adult works 20 hours or more 22 per week, based on a monthly average. 23 ‘‘(B) The adult volunteers for 20 hours or 24 more per week, based on a monthly average. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1063.IS S1063 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1063 IS ‘‘(2) ABLE-BODIED ADULT DEFINED.—In this 1 subsection the term ‘able-bodied adult’ means any 2 individual who is not— 3 ‘‘(A) under 18 years of age or over 65 4 years of age; 5 ‘‘(B) medically certified as physically or 6 mentally unfit for employment; 7 ‘‘(C) pregnant; 8 ‘‘(D) the primary parent or caretaker of a 9 dependent child under 6 years of age; 10 ‘‘(E) the primary parent or caretaker of a 11 dependent child with a serious medical condi- 12 tion or disability, as determined by the State 13 agency established or designated to administer 14 or supervise the administration of the State 15 plan; 16 ‘‘(F) receiving unemployment compensa- 17 tion under State or Federal law and, as applica- 18 ble, complying with work requirements under 19 such State or Federal law; or 20 ‘‘(G) participating in a drug or alcohol 21 treatment and rehabilitation program (as de- 22 fined in section 3(h) of the Food and Nutrition 23 Act of 2008).’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1063.IS S1063 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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