U.S.

Kentucky Will Require Medicaid Recipients To Work For Benefits

Kentucky is the first state to require some type of work to receive benefits.

Kentucky Will Require Medicaid Recipients To Work For Benefits
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On Thursday, President Donald Trump's administration said states could impose work requirements for Medicaid benefits. Just a day later, Kentucky took them up on that offer.

Kentucky says able-bodied adults need to prove they've done at least 80 hours of work a month to get their benefits. Those 80 hours can be from a job, volunteer work or job training.

It's not clear how many people in Kentucky will be affected by the new rules. Though aides to the Kentucky governor estimate about half of the state's working-age and able-bodied Medicaid recipients will already meet the new requirements.

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But at a national level, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 60 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries are already working.

Nine other states have asked the Trump administration for Medicaid work requirement waivers.