{"id":2461760,"date":"2025-07-15T07:46:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T11:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nonworking-medicaid-recipients-spend-6-hours-a-day-relaxing\/"},"modified":"2025-07-15T07:48:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T11:48:44","slug":"nonworking-medicaid-recipients-spend-6-hours-a-day-relaxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nonworking-medicaid-recipients-spend-6-hours-a-day-relaxing\/","title":{"rendered":"Nonworking Medicaid Recipients Spend 6 Hours A Day &#8216;Relaxing&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnonworking-medicaid-recipients-spend-6-hours-a-day-relaxing%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2461760&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Teh summary discusses the Medicaid reforms included in a recent Republican reconciliation bill, which Democrats criticize as cuts to Medicaid. Though, the bill does not reduce Medicaid funding, which is projected to grow by about $1 trillion over the next decade. The largest savings come from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-fractures-over-medicaid-work-requirements-in-big-beautiful-bill\/\" title=\"GOP fractures over ... in &#039;big beautiful ...&#039;\">implementing work requirements<\/a> for able-bodied adults on Medicaid expansion, excluding vulnerable groups like the disabled and pregnant women. Despite claims by democrats that most Medicaid recipients work, studies analyzing earnings data show that about 62% of able-bodied adults on Medicaid report no earned income. Further analysis reveals that nonworking Medicaid recipients spend many hours on leisure activities such as watching TV and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/shocking-exclusive-auditors-selected-by-arizona-maricopa-county-board-of-supervisors-send-message-to-observers-f-you\/\" title=\"SHOCKING EXCLUSIVE: Auditors Selected by Arizona Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Send Message to Observers: \u201cF@#$ You\u201d\">playing video games<\/a>.The article argues that requiring these individuals to spend a modest amount of time-around 80 hours per month-on work or productive activities is reasonable and beneficial.It suggests that such requirements encourage self-sufficiency, build skills, and could help <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-nevada-gov-rescinds-covid-mandates\/\" title=\"New Nevada Gov. Rescinds COVID Mandates\">address workforce shortages<\/a>. The piece frames the work requirements as a common-sense policy and a step against a culture of dependency fostered by expanded welfare programs.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Of all the provisions included in Republicans&rsquo; &ldquo;big, beautiful&rdquo; reconciliation legislation, Democrats hope to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/politics\/democrats-to-focus-on-unpopular-gop-cuts-in-bid-to-take-back-the-house\/ar-AA1HQMax?ocid=msedgntp&amp;pc=DCTS&amp;cvid=2788ed7e63164eb19147339a8cb16e1a&amp;ei=10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">make the most politically<\/a> out of the Medicaid reforms. As I have previously noted at The Federalist, the bill <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/20\/republicans-dont-buy-democrats-lies-about-medicaid-cuts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">does not &ldquo;cut&rdquo; Medicaid<\/a>, as that program will still grow by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2025-01\/60870-Outlook-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">roughly $1 trillion<\/a> in the coming decade.<\/p>\n<p>Among the various Medicaid reform provisions, the largest amount of projected savings comes via work requirements on able-bodied adults participating in Obamacare&rsquo;s Medicaid expansion. These provisions do <em>not<\/em> apply to vulnerable populations such as individuals with disabilities and pregnant women. Indeed, the new law intends to preserve and protect Medicaid for these populations, for whom the program was originally designed in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hfma.org\/fast-finance\/medicaid-work-requirements-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">general public support<\/a> for Medicaid work requirements, Democrats still attempt to characterize the provisions as unduly onerous. The facts indicate otherwise and demonstrate the reasonable nature of this new policy.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Most Medicaid Recipients Report No Earned Income<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Democrat groups try to claim that most Medicaid recipients work at least part-time, making the new requirements an attempt to remove otherwise-qualified beneficiaries by tying them down with unnecessary paperwork. But these claims are premised upon survey data, which by definition relies upon 1) population sampling techniques and 2) beneficiaries&rsquo; own recall, both of which have the potential for significant errors.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/thefga.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Welfare-Work-Requirements-LSG-paper-4-14-25.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent study<\/a> by the Foundation for Government Accountability, which examined beneficiaries&rsquo; actual earnings history, shows a far different picture. Based on the individual earnings of almost 21 million Medicaid beneficiaries in 23 different states, nearly 2 out of 3 able-bodied adults on Medicaid (62 percent) reported no earned income, meaning they weren&rsquo;t working.<\/p>\n<p>This data provides further confirmation of a phenomenon I <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/18\/mississippis-work-requirement-for-medicaid-is-just-an-excuse-to-expand-the-welfare-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chronicled last year<\/a>. In states that have not expanded Medicaid, individuals need to have income equal to the <a href=\"https:\/\/aspe.hhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/dd73d4f00d8a819d10b2fdb70d254f7b\/detailed-guidelines-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">federal poverty level<\/a> ($15,650 for an individual in 2025) to qualify for subsidized Exchange coverage. That means an individual working 30 hours per week at a job making $10 per hour, or working 20 hours per week at a job making $15 per hour, would qualify for Exchange subsidies &mdash; which in 2025 would give him a zero-premium (or, as Democrats would call it, &ldquo;free&rdquo;) benchmark plan.<\/p>\n<p>The fact that states that have not expanded Medicaid <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/18\/mississippis-work-requirement-for-medicaid-is-just-an-excuse-to-expand-the-welfare-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">face pressure to do so<\/a> reinforces that able-bodied adults are not working. In these states, the earnings requirement to achieve income of at least 100 percent of poverty to qualify for Exchange subsidies functions as a <em>de facto<\/em> work requirement. The fact that so many individuals cannot meet this comparatively low earnings threshold indicates that much of the potential Medicaid population does not work.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Lack of Activity by Nonworkers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>For those individuals who do not work, how do they spend their time? A recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aei.org\/opportunity-social-mobility\/how-non-disabled-medicaid-recipients-without-children-spend-their-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">analysis<\/a> by an American Enterprise Institute scholar revealed results that did not seem altogether surprising:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>For Medicaid recipients who do not report working, <strong><em>the most common activity after sleeping is watching television and playing video games<\/em><\/strong>. They spend 4.2 hours per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/press-panics-over-publics-ability-to-see-through-activist-narratives\/\" title=\"Media Alarmed by Public&#039;s Insight into Activist Agendas\">day watching television<\/a> and playing video games, or 125 hours during a 30-day month. &hellip; They spend on average 6.1 hours per day, or 184 hours per month, on all socializing, relaxing, and leisure activities (including television and video games). (Emphasis mine.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Given that nonworkers on the Medicaid rolls spend more than 180 hours per month watching TV, playing video games, and otherwise relaxing, it seems entirely reasonable for the government to require such individuals to devote less than half of that time, or 80 hours per month, to working, volunteering, or otherwise engaging in productive activities with their time as a condition of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >receiving taxpayer-funded health coverage<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A Victory for Common Sense<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>For hard-working American families who cannot afford to spend six hours per day playing video games or &ldquo;relaxing,&rdquo; these new requirements seem like an eminently sensible proposition. Requiring work from those who are able to do so will help them transition from a life on the government rolls, building confidence and marketable economic skills that can stay with them for the rest of their lives. It may also help to alleviate some of the workforce shortages that businesses saw in the years immediately following Covid lockdowns.<\/p>\n<p>The fact that Medicaid work requirements remain a partisan issue illustrates how Democrats have deliberately fostered a dependency culture via perpetual expansions of the welfare state. Reestablishing a culture of work via the reconciliation bill represents a hard-earned victory for common sense.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p>      Chris Jacobs is founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group and author of the book &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/1645720020\">The Case Against Single Payer<\/a>.&#8221; He is on Twitter: <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/chrisjacobsHC\">@chrisjacobsHC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats focus on Medicaid reforms in GOP bill, which still grows<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2461761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Cozy-Home-Gaming.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[11975,59109,59110],"class_list":["post-2461760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-medicaid","tag-nonworking-recipients","tag-relaxing-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Cozy-Home-Gaming.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2461760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2461760"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2461760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2461764,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2461760\/revisions\/2461764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2461761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2461760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2461760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2461760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}