Snyder signs law creating Medicaid work requirement

Associated Press | Detroit Free Press

LANSING — Work or education will be required for many Michigan residents receiving Medicaid health coverage.

Gov. Rick Snyder signed a law Friday that affects able-bodied adults, ages 18 to 62. They'll have to show workforce engagement averaging 80 hours a month, such as a job, school, vocational training, an internship, substance abuse treatment or community service.

About 690,000 Michigan residents are covered by a 2014 expansion of Medicaid. The number of people who might lose coverage from the new requirement is unclear due to exemptions for the disabled, full-time students, a parent with a child under 6 and pregnant women. The federal government still must sign off on the Michigan changes.

Democrats widely panned the work requirement as cruel for depriving poor people of health care.

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