Medicaid expansion to include work requirements under new act

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, certain adults covered through Medicaid expansion will face new work requirements beginning in 2027. To maintain coverage, recipients must document 80 hours per month of work, participation in a work program, community service, or half-time school enrollment.

Critics note that the mandate could create significant bureaucratic obstacles, particularly for rural residents in states like Alaska who may face challenges with transportation and unreliable broadband. The policy follows a similar experiment in Arkansas in 2018, which resulted in over 18,000 people losing Medicaid coverage without a significant increase in employment due to administrative barriers.