This opinion piece appeared in The Hill. You can read the full piece by clicking the link below.

“When President Bill Clinton signed welfare reform into law, many critics warned of impending calamity for welfare recipients. Individuals on welfare would be unable to comply with work requirements and would face dire poverty. These critics underestimated the ability of welfare recipients to find work and stay employed.

“Today, the debate is over the amount of gains welfare recipients who returned to work made, not whether or not they fell into dire poverty. Many recipients, particularly women, made large strides in the work force and increased their family income by work. It appears, this debate is going to be repeated, this time over Medicaid work requirements.

“President Trump’s administration made clear that work requirements are now allowed in Medicaid waivers, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services just issued guidelines for the approval of work requirements. The administration has now strongly encouraged states to include these requirements in Medicaid waivers.

“Much like welfare reform, this would be a welcome change that would move able bodied Medicaid recipients back into the workforce. The traditional Medicaid population such as the elderly, disabled, the blind, pregnant women, foster children, and many others would not be affected by work requirement waivers.”

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