Biden denies GOP plan for Medicaid work requirements.

President Biden Open to Work Requirement Expansions in Debt Ceiling Compromise

President Joe Biden has signaled that he might accept work requirement expansions as part of the compromise with Republicans to raise the debt ceiling, so long as they don’t affect health care programs.

“I’m not going to accept any work requirements that’s going to impact on medical health needs of people,” Biden told reporters on Wednesday at the White House before departing to Japan for the G7 summit. He also admitted that he did support some reforms that instituted work requirements for aid programs as a Delaware Senator in the 1990s.

“I’m not going to accept any work requirements that go much beyond what is already—I voted years ago for the work requirements that exist, but it’s possible there could be a few others, but not anything of any consequence,” he said.

Biden’s remarks come the day after a debt limit discussion he had with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other congressional leaders. The president on Wednesday called the meeting “productive” and “civil and respectful.”

Republican Push for Medicaid Work Requirement

A Republican proposal, which is incorporated into a debt limit plan the House narrowly approved last month in a 217-215 vote, would establish new work requirements for recipients of Medicaid, the taxpayer-funded program aimed to help low-income Americans get health insurance coverage.

With the new requirements, able-bodied adults ages 19 to 55 who don’t have children or other dependents would have to work to remain eligible for Medicaid benefits. Specifically, they would have to complete at least 80 hours of work each month to stay on health care coverage. Job training and community service would count toward fulfilling the work requirement.

Some 15 million out of the 84 million Americans currently enrolled in Medicaid would be subject to the new requirement, according to an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office.

The office also estimates that Medicaid would save $120 billion over the next 10 years if recipients were required to work at least 20 hours every week, at the expense of 600,000 people getting kicked off Medicaid over the same period.

Republicans said their proposed policy is meant to push Americans into jobs that might eventually help them get out of reliance on the government for health care.

• According to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), basic work requirements like this are not only consistent with common sense but are also fair to Americans who work and pay taxes.

President Biden’s willingness to compromise on work requirements for the debt ceiling has been met with mixed reactions. However, his insistence that health care programs remain unaffected shows his commitment to protecting the most vulnerable Americans.