The Dynamics Of Medicaid Enrollment, Employment, And Beneficiary Health Status

Abstract

Some policy makers are proposing Medicaid work or community engagement requirements. Using national data, we found that 13.9 percent of new, nonelderly adult Medicaid beneficiaries in 2015-16 had experienced a decline in health before enrollment, and a similar percentage had had jobs that ended before they enrolled. These findings highlight the need for careful design of work requirement policies.

Keywords: Medicaid, employment status, health status.