research
Work requirements would curtail Medicaid expansion coverage, report says
If the Senate passes the budget reconciliation bill, one in three adults who work or attend school while enrolled in Medicaid expansion coverage will be at risk of losing coverage under work requirements, according to new analysis from the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Researchers say that among the 31% of enrollees in expanded Medicaid programs who do not work or attend school, only 2% of expansion enrollees do not work or attend school and cite lack of interest as a reason for not working. Instituting these work requirements would only actually affect a tiny fraction of the 4.8 to 6 million adults projected to lose coverage under the policy. This analysis is the latest report to demonstrate that Medicaid cuts could affect more Americans than Republicans suggest.
Work requirements are important for Republicans who wish to reduce federal spending. The current provision would reduce federal spending by $280 billion over ten years, which amounts to nearly half of all estimated Medicaid savings in the bill, according to a Congressional Budget Office report. My colleague John Wilkerson's coverage has been excellent on this issue — stay tuned for more.
first opinion
Why RFK Jr.'s approach to the vaccine advisory committee could backfire
If Kennedy wants to "clean up the corruption and conflicts" at HHS, he is going about it the wrong way, writes Genevieve P. Kanter, an economist at the University of Southern California.
Kanter studies conflicts of interest at federal agencies. She says that the purpose of advisory committees is to have external experts offer independent advice to the government on technical and scientific issues. Purging vaccine experts may remove members with industry ties, but not without a cost. Studies show that committee members with industry relationships tend to publish more and higher-impact articles, suggesting they can bring more expertise to the table. For more insight into why these existing relationships matter and why Kennedy's purge could backfire, read more from Kanter.
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