work requirements

States dealing with budget shortfalls are facing tens of millions of dollars in new costs ahead of the federal Jan. 1 deadline.

Montana plans to be one of the first states to enforce President Donald Trump’s work mandate for Medicaid enrollees, adding another challenge for state health officials trying to plug a massive budget hole.

States where voters bypassed officials to expand Medicaid are opting for stricter implementation of new requirements.

State officials remain uncertain on how to enforce a requirement that many adult Medicaid enrollees show they’re working and they’re taking a variety of approaches to the job, including, in a handful of states, using artificial intelligence.

Many GOP states are enacting soda and candy bans for food stamp purchases amid MAHA’s healthy food efforts. Some retailers and SNAP users find the new rules complicated.

Proponents of work requirements argue that they incentivize people who are “work-ready” to seek and keep jobs, reducing dependence on government assistance and upholding the “dignity of work.”

Millions of people who apply for Medicaid in the coming years will have to prove they’ve been working, going to school, or volunteering for at least a month before they can gain or retain health insurance through the government program. But some states think the rules don't go far enough

Congressional Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last summer, will soon demand more from staff at state agencies in places where lawmakers expanded Medicaid to more low-income adults — nearly all states and the District of Columbia.

Amid the war with Iran, the president has proposed to scale back some of the very programs meant to ease families’ financial burdens.