No proof of work could mean no Medicaid — and women stand to lose the most

Barbara Rodriguez

Interim Health and Caregiving Reporter

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Congressional Republicans are poised to make massive spending cuts to the Medicaid program that provides health insurance to millions of Americans — in part by enacting federal work requirements that they claim won’t affect the most vulnerable recipients. But data analysis shows that poor middle-aged and older women would be among the most impacted.

Republicans have repeatedly said that mandating work requirements is aimed at able-bodied adults without dependents, or “capable adults who choose not to work,” as Rep. Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, a key Republican budget policymaker, described it in a recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal .

House lawmakers are trying to advanc