LANSING, MI - Michiganders receiving Medicaid are one step closer to being required to work 30 hours per week under legislation approved 4-1 by the Senate Competitiveness Committee on Wednesday.

Senate Bill 897, sponsored by Sen. Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, would require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work 29 hours per week in order to continue receiving Medicaid. People would be exempt from the requirements if they met certain criteria, like being over 64, having a disability, being pregnant, or being a caretaker for a dependent with a disability or family member under the age of six.

That would leave out people like Claire Maitre of Scio Township, who cares for her 3-year-old and 7-year-old grandsons three days a week now, and more during the summer. She is a Medicaid recipient, but said if she were forced to give up her volunteer work and family childcare assistance she would give up the health insurance.

"I may seem poor to you, but my life seems rich," she told the committee.

Amid a national push to expand Medicaid Gov. Rick Snyder signed Healthy Michigan into law in 2013. It extended Medicaid to people making 138 percent of the federal poverty level. In 2018 that's an income of $16,753 for one person or $34,638 for a family of four. Healthy Michigan now insures 672,731 people, according to the Michigan Department for Health and Human Services.

Until recently, federal rules prevented states from instituting work requirements for Medicaid recipients. The President Donald Trump administration recently opened the door to such policy, approving a handful of waivers from states seeking to implement Medicaid work requirements.

The bill would require Michigan to seek such a waiver. It got a hearing in March, but Shirkey slowed it down for more input. Changes to the bill in the substitute reported Wednesday included extending the implementation timeline to Oct. 1, 2019 and delineating more exemptions, Shirkey said.

But he is still working with people on the details and doesn't expect what the committee approved today to be the final version. Specifically, he said the 29-hour requirement was subject to change. He's also had high-level meetings with Snyder and some of his staff about the bills.

Pete Lund, state director of Americans for Prosperity Michigan, testified in support of the bills, saying they contained "very reasonable requirements." He urged passage over the objections, saying in past instances opponents of change had cited sensationalized concerns.

"Whenever we hear that type of over-the-top screaming and yelling, it never seems to come to fruition," Lund said.

The Mackinac Center and National Federation of Independent businesses also testified in support of the legislation.

Among those who testified against it was Ken Fletcher, state director for the American Lung Association of Michigan. He said most people who get their coverage through Medicaid and are able to work already do.

Medicaid recipients would have to do paperwork either to prove they fit into one of the exemptions or to demonstrate they comply with the requirement, he said. The proposal would leave recipients "battling administrative red tape in order to keep coverage," he said.

Sen. Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, was the only committee member to vote against the bill. She had concerns about the number of hours people were required to work and unfair penalties for somebody whose employer doesn't give them the promised number of hours. But she's hoping to work with Shirkey on the bill as it goes through the legislative process.

"I want to continue to work with you, Mr. Chair, to make sure that it harms as few people as possible," Warren said.

The bill heads now to the full Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, said he supports it.

"I think there's a lot of merit there. Folks that are able-bodied, I think this will help them become more self-sufficient. I think it's a good idea," Meekhof said.

He said the plan is for the full Senate to consider it next week. It would need to pass the full Senate and the full House, and be signed by Gov. Rick Snyder, to become law.