On Monday, the Trump administration approved Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s (R) request to enact work requirements for Medicaid recipients. Arkansas is the third state to implement these welfare reforms since the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began approving waivers for Medicaid work requirements.
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“These are exactly the welfare reform initiatives The Heartland Institute has been pushing in dozens of states.”
“Since the state of Arkansas unwisely expanded Medicaid in 2014, we have produced dozens of policy documents on the need to innovate and reform Medicaid, not expand its failed, outdated policies.”
Tim Huelskamp, Ph.D.
President
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
Dr. Huelskamp represented Kansas’ 1st District in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017.
“The federal government is slowly moving toward giving individual states the flexibility they need to fix their state Medicaid programs, which have begun to overwhelm many state budgets. Arkansas now joins the ranks of Kentucky and Indiana by taking regulatory control into their own hands and calling for work requirements in their states.
“Work requirements have proven to be successful in the past when introduced in other entitlement programs. They reduce poverty by encouraging work and self-reliance. States like Georgia and Kansas have already seen thousands move from the welfare system to gainful employment when those states moved to expand work requirements and impose time limits in their food stamp programs.
“With three states already receiving waivers to impose work requirements, Washington has made it clear this is a model that will be approved by the Trump administration. States across the country should follow the model of Arkansas, Indiana, and Kentucky and propose waivers of their own.”
Matthew Glans
Senior Policy Analyst
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
Tim Huelskamp served as president of The Heartland Institute from 2017 to 2019.
Matthew Glans joined the staff of The Heartland Institute in November 2007 as legislative specialist for insurance and finance.
