Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin on Wednesday ordered the state's healthcare agency to develop a plan on how to incorporate a work requirement into its Medicaid program, Fox 14 reports.
Fallin's executive order directs the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority to submit recommendations to the governor's office and state legislature within the next six months.
"We in Oklahoma should require people who receive Medicaid assistance to work, if they are able," Fallin said in a press release. "A core objective of the Medicaid program is to help low-income families and individuals attain capability for independence. Work requirements in other welfare programs have helped move individuals from welfare to work."
Fallin suggested exemptions for children, the elderly, pregnant women, caretakers of children under the age of six, the disabled, a parent or caretaker personally providing care for a dependent child with serious medical conditions or with a disability, people participating in a drug addiction or alcoholic treatment and rehab program and people receiving unemployment compensation and complying with work requirements.
The announcement comes two months after the Trump administration released guidelines paving the way for states to impose work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid has already approved work requirements in Indiana, Arkansas and Kentucky.
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