Health Care

OCPA praises Medicaid work requirements

July 7, 2025

Staff

OKLAHOMA CITY (July 7, 2025)—Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs President Jonathan Small today praised Oklahoma’s congressional delegation for supporting a provision of the newly enacted “Big Beautiful Bill” that imposes work requirements on able-bodied adults who receive Medicaid welfare support.

“Those who are able to work should either be working or seeking work, and the new federal law simply imposes that common-sense requirement,” Small said. “Work provides dignity and purpose, and federal programs like Medicaid should incentivize work, not discourage it.”

Under the newly signed federal law, able-bodied, childless adults between the ages of 18 and 64 are expected to work 80 hours a month to be eligible to receive Medicaid benefits. Individuals can also meet the requirement by ​​participating in community service, going to school, or engaging in a work program.

“Men in their 20s and 30s should not be sitting idle,” Small said. “Welfare programs like Medicaid should be only a short-term helping hand, not a way of life. Similar work requirements were imposed for food stamps in the 1990s and were wildly successful. There’s no reason the same approach won’t work again.”