States unprepared to implement Medicaid work requirements: report

Dive Brief:

More than half of states may be ill prepared to enact Medicaid work requirements as required by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to a new analysis published by the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy.

Researchers analyzed eight Medicaid performance indicators to assess how states are currently serving beneficiaries. They found lengthy call center waits and long processing timelines for applications, as well as low rates of automatic renewals — all signs that states may be administratively stretched thin even prior to taking on the onerous task of checking enrollees’ work status every six months.

Twenty-nine states exhibited red flags for at least half of the eight metrics examined by researchers. Illinois, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, Ut