@article {Sneed2022.02.07.22270614, title = {Chronic Disease and Workforce Participation Among Medicaid Enrollees Over 50: The Potential Impact of Medicaid Work Requirements Post-COVID-19}, journal = {medRxiv}, year = {Forthcoming}, abstract = {As the COVID-19 pandemic wanes, states may reintroduce Medicaid work requirements to reduce enrollment. Using the Health and Retirement Study, we evaluated chronic disease burden among beneficiaries aged \>50 (n=1460) who might be impacted by work requirements (i.e. working \<20 hours per week). Seven of eight chronic conditions evaluated were associated with reduced workforce participation, including history of stroke (OR: 7.35; 95\% CI: 2.98-18.14) and lung disease (OR: 4.39; 95\% CI: 2.97-7.47). Those with more severe disease were also more likely to work fewer hours. Medicaid work requirements would likely have great impact on older beneficiaries with significant disease burden.Key PointsChronic disease linked to reduced work among older Medicaid beneficiaries.Work requirements would greatly impact those aged \>50 with chronic conditions.Coverage loss would have negative implications for long-term disease management.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.Funding StatementThis work was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation{\textquoteright}s (RWJF) Policies for Action program under grant number 77342. This is a secondary analysis that uses data from the Health and Retirement Study, (2016 HRS Core and RAND HRS Longitudinal File 2018), sponsored by the National Institute on Aging under grant number NIA U01AG009740 and conducted by the University of Michigan.Author DeclarationsI confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.YesThe details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:This study involved only openly available human data, which can be obtained from: https://hrsdata.isr.umich.edu/data-products/rand-hrs-longitudinal-file-2018 and https://hrsdata.isr.umich.edu/data-products/2016-hrs-coreI confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.YesI understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).YesI have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.YesAll data are available online at: https://hrsdata.isr.umich.edu/data-products/rand-hrs-longitudinal-file-2018 and https://hrsdata.isr.umich.edu/data-products/2016-hrs-core}, keywords = {Chronic disease, COVID-19, health policy, Medicaid}, doi = {10.1101/2022.02.07.22270614}, author = {Rodlescia S. Sneed and Stubblefield, Alexander and Gardner, Graham and Jordan, Tamara and Briana Mezuk} } @article {13424, title = {Chronic Disease, Functional Limitations, and Workforce Participation Among Medicaid Enrollees Over 50: The Potential Impact of Medicaid Work Requirements Post-COVID-19.}, journal = {J Aging Soc Policy}, year = {2023}, month = {2023 Jul 18}, pages = {1-19}, abstract = {

From 2018-2020, 19 states enacted Medicaid work requirements as a strategy for reducing program enrollment and overall cost. While these requirements were later rescinded, strategies to reduce Medicaid costs are likely to reemerge as states attempt to recover economically from the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we evaluated the impact of Medicaid work requirements on adults aged > 50, a group that likely faces significant age-related chronic disease burden. Using 2016 Health and Retirement Study data, we evaluated the chronic disease burden of adult Medicaid beneficiaries aged 51-64 years ( = 1460) who would be at risk of losing their Medicaid coverage due to work requirements. We compared Medicaid beneficiaries working <20 hours per week (i.e. those at risk of coverage loss) to those working at least 20 hours per week on eight chronic health conditions, adjusting for demographic characteristics. Among those with chronic health conditions, we also evaluated differences in disease severity based on hours worked per week. Among those working fewer than 20 hours per week, odds of disease were greater for seven of eight chronic conditions, including history of stroke (OR: 5.66; 95\% CI: 2.22-14.43) and lung disease (OR: 3.79; 95\% CI: 2.10-6.85). Further, those with greater disease severity were likely to work fewer hours. Thus, the introduction of Medicaid work requirements would likely result in coverage loss and lower access to care among older Medicaid beneficiaries with multiple chronic health conditions.

}, keywords = {Chronic disease, Medicaid work requirements, workforce participation}, issn = {1545-0821}, doi = {10.1080/08959420.2023.2226291}, author = {Sneed, Rodlescia S and Stubblefield, Alexander and Gardner, Graham and Jordan, Tamara and Mezuk, Briana} }