Mass Health work requirement unlikely

Gov. Charlie Baker’s top health official said it’s unlikely the administration will seek a waiver to establish work requirements for Medicaid recipients after President Trump opened the door to the major policy shift yesterday morning.

Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said such a requirement has “not been something we’ve been pursuing” and indicated she likely won’t seek to add it amid other efforts to reshape the state’s Medicaid program, known as Mass Health.

“I see this as CMS giving states that are looking for flexibility, flexibility,” Sudders said, using the acronym for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. “Whether we choose that flexibility or not in Massachusetts, you know, probably not. We continue to want people to have health care coverage.”

She later added, “I’m not at this time thinking I’m going to be heading in that direction.”

In a statement, Baker’s office said it “does not support applying work requirements to the Mass Health program.”

Ten states, including Maine and New Hampshire, had sent proposals to the federal government seeking the controversial change. The requests prompted CMS to issue yesterday’s guidance about how to obtain federal approval for waivers imposing work requirements on “able-bodied” adults.

People aren’t currently required to hold a job to be on Medicaid, and advocates for low-income adults have already raised concerns that a change could cut off an untold number of people from their health insurance.

In Massachusetts, Mass Health covers 1.9 million people and has grown into a $16 billion program, accounting for 40 percent of the entire state budget.