A Senate panel passed a bill that asks voters if they want to place a work requirement on people who receive Medicaid healthcare benefits.
That’s despite research that shows work requirements do little to increase a state’s workforce.
The move by Republican state lawmakers comes in the wake of South Dakota voters passing Medicaid expansion. The language of that initiative prohibits the state from imposing any restrictions on Medicaid eligibility.
Sponsors of the work requirement say the restriction on the full Medicaid population is problematic and not part of the Medicaid expansion ballot question discussion.
Republican Rep. Tony Venhuizen is backing the effort to ask state voters if they want to add a work requirement. He says this question is a first step in asking voters if work requirements should be an option.
“In South Dakota, work is an important value that we hold. We design our social programs to incentivize work and to say this is something people should be doing if they can,” Venhuizen said. “I’m not doing this primarily to save money. I’m doing it because it’s an important value in our state.”
Currently, the federal government does not allow for work requirements, but that’s likely to change with a different administration. Venhuizen said the state gets to set parameters about who is required to work.
South Dakota Department of Social Services Secretary Matt Althoff spoke in favor of the proposal. That department administers Medicaid. It’s unclear how many individuals would be affected by a work requirement.
DSS officials say two-thirds of the current Medicaid population also receive food assistance, which has a work requirement already.
Research by Kaiser Family Foundation finds work requirements do little to boost a state’s workforce and result in people losing coverage.
"As most Medicaid enrollees are already working or face barriers to work, work and reporting requirements may cause coverage loss among eligible enrollees without increasing employment," one KFF article states.
That’s something opponents like Avera Hospital’s Kim Malsam-Rysdon worry about—that the proposal won’t have the effect supporters want it to have.
“Work requirements result in people—who are otherwise eligible—not participating in Medicaid because it is burdensome," Malsam-Rysdon said. "It just puts another hoop people have to jump through in their already demanding lives. That means people go without health care they need to stay healthy and to stay working.”
The proposal passed a Senate committee seven to one Wednesday with the lone Democrat voting against it. It now heads to the full Senate.
