George Washington University Professor Sara Rosenbaum on Medicaid work requirements

NC Newsline

One of the more remarkable facts about some of the policies that state and federal lawmakers adopt for public benefit programs these days is that they’re based not on facts or data, or the money and lives saved, but on gut feelings about the worthiness of the people who would be helped. Nowhere is this better evidenced than in the ongoing effort in Congress to mandate work requirements for low-income people enrolled in the Medicaid health insurance program.

The massive budget and tax bill passed by the U.S. House in late May would mandate just such a requirement – and this was in spite of mounds of research showing that work requirements are costly, ineffective, and in many instances, downright cruel. One expert who conducted that research is Sara Rosenbaum – she’s the Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor Emerita of Health Law and Policy at the George Washington University – and recently Newsline caught up with her to learn more.

Click here to listen to the full interview with Sara Rosenbaum.