New Report: Republicans’ Burdensome Medicaid Red Tape Requirements Will Not Increase Employment, But Instead Will Cause Millions to Lose Health Care
“In the states that took initial steps to implement these requirements, many Medicaid enrollees were buried in red tape via impossible-to-meet paperwork requirements, and many lived in fear of losing their health coverage.”
“In Arkansas and Georgia, burdensome red tape requirements have demonstrated a singular effect: taking away low-income, working-class Americans’ health coverage.”
Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) released a new report today on the devastating consequences Americans will face if President Trump and Congressional Republicans move forward with their plan to impose national red tape requirements on Medicaid—the nation’s largest health care program.
“Let’s be clear: Republicans’ so-called ‘work requirements’ are not about work at all—the reality is the vast majority of people on Medicaid who can work already do,” Pallone said. “In fact, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has found these burdensome red tape requirements do not increase employment at all. This report underscores what we know from experience: these requirements are not about jobs but are a cruel way for Republicans to take health care away from millions of people to give tax breaks to billionaires and corporations.”
The new report includes case studies of two states that implemented paperwork requirements—Arkansas and Georgia—and found they caused thousands of people to lose or be denied access to health care. The report also tells the heartbreaking stories of people across the country—including parents, children, workers, people struggling with substance abuse, and retirees—who were impacted by the red tape requirements during President Trump’s first term.
In the two case studies the report finds paperwork requirements frequently result in people wrongly losing their health care, and in Georgia, the state is spending more on administrative costs implementing the red tape requirements than on providing health care to residents who must meet the requirements. According to the report, of the nearly $80 million in federal and state expenditures spent on Georgia’s red tape requirements program as of September 2024, just under $14 million—less than 18 percent—was spent on health care coverage. Of the nearly $68 million in federal expenditures, less than $5 million—not even eight percent—had been spent on health care coverage.
“Republicans love to talk about ‘waste, fraud, and abuse,’ but these red tape requirements on Medicaid are leading to massive amounts of money being spent on wasteful administrative costs rather than health care,” Pallone continued. “The report finds Georgia spent way more money administering their program to kick people off Medicaid than providing health care. This isn’t about efficiency and cost-cutting. Medicaid is the leanest health care program in the country, spending less per-person than either Medicare or private health insurance. Red tape requirements are a Republican scam to take health care away from people.”
If Republicans move ahead with a national system similar to Georgia’s, where the paperwork requirement must be met when someone applies for Medicaid, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that it would kick millions off of health coverage. CBO estimates that adjusting a prior Republican red tape requirements proposal in this way would result in a $260 billion cut to federal Medicaid funding and leave 2.5 million Americans uninsured.
Medicaid provides health coverage for nearly 80 million Americans, including 37.6 million children. Independent analysis finds most Medicaid enrollees already have jobs while the majority of those who do not are taking care of a child or disabled family member, have an illness or disability themselves, or are in school.
“This report is a cautionary tale as Republicans seek to make red tape requirements a national requirement for all states. It shares the stories of people affected by these requirements during the first Trump Administration, including those who became sicker after losing their health care and even lost their jobs as their conditions worsened. Making these changes nationally will result in millions of Americans losing health care coverage and getting sicker due to bureaucratic paperwork requirements. Democrats will fight to stop Republicans from taking health care away from Americans so that the rich can get richer,” Pallone concluded.
The report also includes an appendix that lists the number of residents in each Congressional District at risk of losing Medicaid coverage due to red tape requirements.
The report was prepared by Democratic Energy and Commerce Committee Staff.
Read the full report HERE.
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