ARTICLE AD BOX
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has revealed when Republicans hope to start a proposed work requirement for Medicaid as they continue negotiations on Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
The major piece of legislation would extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and increase funding for Trump’s immigration crackdown while reforming social services like Medicaid and food assistance programs. The House passed it late Sunday in a surprise late-night vote.
Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, has suggested that the Medicaid work requirement in Trump’s bill could go into effect in early 2027 — two years sooner than the initial version of the bill had proposed. Medicaid it the federal program that provides health insurance for low-income families.
“We’re coming to a much earlier date, early 2027, that we’re going to put in the bill in the Rules Committee this week,” Scalise told CNBC Monday.
GOP lawmakers managed to advance Trump’s bill out of the House Budget Committee late Sunday night, despite pushback from a few conservatives concerned about the national deficit.
The legislation is headed to the House Rules Committee to make any necessary changes before it heads for a full floor vote.
As it currently stands, Trump’s bill would require able-bodied adults without children or dependents to work at least 80 hours a month, engage in 80 hours of community service, engage in 80 hours for an educational program or engage in a combination of these three options to qualify for Medicaid.
Some people would be exempt from the work requirements including people younger than 19 and older than 64 years of age, pregnant women, foster youth, former foster youth up to the age of 26, people with disabilities, members of Native American tribes or people already in compliance with work requirements for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Scalise explained that it would take time for Mehmet Oz, who heads the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to make the changes Republicans demand.
“So you’re going to see a much earlier date, giving Dr. Oz the time he needs to implement the changes, but moving that date up dramatically,” he said.
Scalise was asked whether changing the start date could cause moderates within the GOP to end their support of the bill. He said that all Republican lawmakers had a chance to review the bill and ask questions last week.
“Everybody knew this was something that we were working on,” the Republican leader said of the timeline for the work requirement changes.
He added: “We’re going to go through those details again this week before we bring it to the floor.”
House Republican leadership staff clarified in a briefing on Monday after Scalise’s interview that a new start date for the Medicaid work requirements has not been decided yet, according to The Hill.
English (US) ·