Committee debates amendment language for SB134 on Medicaid work requirements

At a work session on SB134, the Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs committee reviewed proposed amendment language intended to align the state's Medicaid work-requirement law with pending federal rules and to narrow areas where state statute could obstruct federal approval.

Representative Cofall, who led the subcommittee discussion, said members had taken several weeks to review a side-by-side comparison of the federal provisions and the state language. He read aloud proposed statutory language and told the panel, "No applicable individual shall be enrolled in Medicaid unless at the time of application the individual demonstrates ... The Department of Health and Human Services shall require documentary evidence and shall not accept self attestation at the time of" application, and then asked the department and members to consider how to implement that requirement.

The committee's discussion centered on several recurring topics: the look-back period for verifying prior work (federal guidance allows…