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A WGVU initiative in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation using on-air programs and community events to explore issues of inclusion and equity.

MI Lawsuit against Trump Administration fights to prevent Medicaid work requirements

Doctor taking a patient's blood pressure photo
Pixabay | CC BY 3.0

When Katina Petropolous found out she could be at risk for losing her health insurance she joined a group of local Michigan residents in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration to prevent Medicaid work requirements from taking effect.

“If I had to go to the doctors Id probably have to pay out of my own pocket and that’s a concern.” 

Petropolous says that requiring anyone to work at least twenty hours per week just to qualify for health insurance does not account for changes any working person could experience like change in the workplace by unanticipated hours of work, or changes in pay rate, or even the fear of losing or changing a job.

“People change, they go through jobs, they lose jobs, they change jobs, their money changes, their hours change.” 

The plan she is enrolled in is an expansion of Michigan’s Medicaid coverage which provides health insurance for people who do not qualify for Medicaid but are still unable to cover the cost of health care insurance and services.  And Alex Rossman from the Michigan Health for Public Policy says the work requirements would hurt Michiganders more than help them. 

“Most people on the Healthy Michigan Plan that are able to work are already doing so. Its really just adding more red tape and hoops for them to jump through to prove that they are working.” 

The lawsuit Petropolous filed in November  of this year has the potential to pause the Medicaid work requirements from taking effect on January 1 the way a similar lawsuit did in the state of Indiana.  

Michelle Jokisch Polo, WGVU News.  

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