Mississippi Medicaid expansion is at a crossroads over work requirement

In Mississippi, the poorest state in the nation, Republican lawmakers have loosened their decadelong resistance to expanding Medicaid and making health insurance available to roughly 200,000 of the state’s low-income residents. But some Republican leaders have said they will not approve a bill without a work requirement, a provision critics say could still leave the most vulnerable Mississippians behind. Medicaid expansion would bring coverage to state residents with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level — $20,783 for an individual, or $35,632 for a family of three. Currently, families of three with earnings up to 28% of the poverty level or $7,230 are eligible.