Medicaid Work Requirements: The Relationship between Work and Health

by Linda Li, MPH, Abigail Barker, PhD, Leah Kemper, MPH, Timothy McBride, PhD | February 2019

Whether work requirements in Medicaid promote health and align with the aims of the program has become a central question in the current policy debate. In this third of three briefs, we assess the relationship between work and health by using longitudinal data to analyze the effects of employment and health status over time. We evaluate the effect of health on work and then examine whether work improves health. Policy implications of current Medicaid work requirements and recommendations follow based on our findings.