Ohio seeking Medicaid work requirements

By Andrew Cass / July 6, 2023

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed the state's budget, which includes language requiring the state to ask the federal government if it can impose Medicaid work requirements, cleveland.com reported July 6. 

If the federal government grants Ohio's request, able-bodied residents 55 and younger would need to work or study at least 20 hours per week — with some exceptions — to qualify for the program, according to the report. 

The state would send the request in February 2025, after President Joe Biden's first term in office and potentially the start of a new presidential administration, according to the report. The Biden administration in 2021 reversed the state's earlier attempt to impose Medicaid work requirements. A letter from the administration cited research that estimated up to 136,000 Medicaid beneficiaries would lose coverage in the first year of the requirement.