The GOP next wants to punish the poor for being poor

Robert Reich
1.11.2018

Having just given a huge tax cut to the wealthy – increasing the number of non-working rich in America – the Trump regime is now turning its attention to increasing the number of working poor. It will allow states to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients.

This is the first step in what Trump calls “welfare reform” but which should be called “cuts in Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security to pay for the giant tax cut for those at the top.”

Medicaid recipients are extremely poor. Many are children and the elderly. Adult recipients who can work already work whatever jobs they can find. Many have lost their jobs, and rely on Medicaid to keep them healthy. A so-called “work requirement” would only give state officials more leeway to kick them off Medicaid -- making them sicker, and making it even harder for them to find new jobs.

Administration officials say a work requirement could improve the health of Medicaid beneficiaries. “For example, higher earnings are positively correlated with longer lifespan,” said one. This is the kind of contorted logic we’ve come to expect from the Trumpsters.

Source
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