New Hampshire is one step closer to imposing work requirements for Medicaid recipients, as a legislative committee this week approved amendments to the state’s expanded Medicaid program. But the plan moving ahead in the State House would go further than what the federal government has proposed.
Federal work requirements imposed by the Trump Administration call for Medicaid recipients to submit proof that they’ve worked or volunteered at least 80 hours per month in order to remain eligible for the program. That proof must be submitted every six months.
But the New Hampshire House’s Health, Human Service and Elderly Affairs Committee approved a plan this week that would call for quarterly updates, among other requirements that some advocates could say hinder people’s access to Medicaid.
The legislation approved this week, and introduced by Rep. Jim Kofalt of Wilton, would require Medicaid recipients to have at least one month’s worth of proof before they can receive coverage, which is the minimum required to comply with federal work requirement standards under the budget reconciliation bill passed this summer. Republicans originally sought a period of three months, but the state’s health department and other Medicaid experts recommended that amount of time be reduced.
The House committee also approved barring Medicaid recipients from “self-attesting” that they are meeting the work requirements — which can include employment, education, community service, job training, or a combination of those — instead requiring formal documentation.
As the debate over work requirements plays out in Concord, Medicaid recipients like Andrew Harmon say they’re concerned about what it will mean for them. Harmon, who is legally blind and self-employed, says he worries about the new steps he may have to take to receive his Medicaid benefits.
He works between 10 and 15 hours a week as an independent contractor, and with volunteer work Harmon said he probably totals around 35 hours of activity per month. But he is paid through PayPal, not traditional paystubs, so he doesn’t have ready documentation of his work.
“I just had to do my SNAP paperwork about a month ago and it took me like a week to get through all the forms because of how I need to verify my payment,” Harmon said.
Harmon said if he had to wait a month before getting Medicaid benefits, he could dip into his savings, but it would still impact his ability to pay other bills.
Harmon also said accessing the state’s online social service platform — where he has to log work hours and income for SNAP — can be tricky due to his vision impairment.
“A lot of the systems aren't coded properly to work with a screen reader,” Harmon said, referring to software that turns digital text into audio.
He’s worried the new proposed requirements for Medicaid will present similar barriers for him and others.
“I just want to be able to continue to stay healthy and be a contributing member of society,” Harmon said. “And I can't if I lose access to my prescriptions because I can't afford it, because I don't have Medicaid, and that's just going to lead to people going to emergency rooms eventually.”
While the amendments have passed the committee, they must still be approved by the full House and Senate and then submitted to the federal government.