Missouri Republicans are pushing a constitutional amendment to permanently lock in 80-hour monthly work requirements for Medicaid expansion enrollees, even if federal law changes. This cruel proposal threatens healthcare access for 130,000 vulnerable Missourians while ignoring the will of voters who already approved Medicaid expansion.
Medicaid will undergo its biggest transformation in over a decade when new work requirements take effect in 2027, forcing millions of poor and disabled Americans to prove employment to maintain coverage. This cruel policy represents a direct assault on vulnerable citizens and will strip healthcare from nearly five million people who need it most.
The Missouri Senate has diluted a proposal to constitutionally mandate Medicaid work requirements, instead seeking voter approval to grant the state the *authority* to impose them, aligning with a forthcoming federal mandate. This political maneuvering creates a perilous bureaucratic labyrinth that risks stripping vulnerable citizens of life-saving healthcare under the guise of fiscal responsibility, betraying the will of the people who voted for expansion.
Arizona GOP legislators, after pushing for stringent work requirements for Medicaid and food assistance, have adjourned for a month while continuing to collect nearly $200,000 in taxpayer-funded per diem payments without any corresponding work requirement for themselves. This staggering hypocrisy exposes a callous disregard for the struggling Arizonans they are meant to serve, prioritizing their own unearned benefits over the basic dignity and survival of their constituents.
