In Context: What Sen. John Kennedy said about Medicaid recipients and work requirements

Adding work requirements for people on Medicaid was a hot topic of debate during President Donald Trump’s first administration — and it may be again in Trump’s second term.

Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican known for his folksy one-liners, is among those pushing for such reform. But when he went on Fox News Feb. 7 to talk about it, his detractors noticed and shared a clip of his comments.

"Senator John Kennedy wants people on Medicaid to ‘get off your ass’ and get jobs," a Feb. 7 Threads post said. "Some of the most common disabilities among Medicaid recipients are: Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injuries."

The post included a 12-second clip of Kennedy’s remarks to Fox News host Martha MacCallum.

The post also appeared on X and was amplified on Facebook and Instagram by The Other 98%, a progressive activist group with millions of followers.

Kennedy’s comments ignored that most Medicaid recipients already do work. But the critics who shared this Fox News clip also misled about senator's stance: Kennedy's full comments show he wasn’t advocating for people with serious health conditions to work.

"I've got a bill that says if you're between 18 and 55, you're not disabled, you don't have any minor kids at home — so we're not talking about a mother with a sick child in her arms — you've got to work 20 hours a week. That'll save us, according to CBO (Congressional Budget Office), about $100 billion over 10 years.

It’s not just about the money. There’s a moral principle. If you can work, you should work. These programs were not meant to be parking lots. They were meant to be bridges. And for some people, not everybody on Medicaid, but for some people, the best way to get back on your feet is to get off your ass."

KFF, a health information nonprofit, examined 26.1 million Medicaid recipients who don’t receive their benefits from Social Security disability programs and who are not also covered by Medicare. 

In 2023, its analysis showed, about 64% of those people were working full-time (44%) or part-time (20%). The rest were not working because they were caregivers (12%), ill or disabled (10%) or in school (7%). Another 8% cited retirement, inability to find work or other reasons, KFF said.

A Feb. 5 analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan think tank, similarly found that most Medicaid recipients are already working or not doing so for the same reasons KFF found. The group said about 36 million people could be at risk of losing health coverage if various plans put forth by congressional Republicans are enacted.

Other research shows that the majority of Medicaid recipients already work, go to school or are unable to work.

Kennedy cited the Congressional Budget Office for his statement that work requirements would save about $100 billion over 10 years. In a Feb. 6 opinion piece for the National Review, Kennedy pointed to an April 25, 2023, report that showed H.R. 2811, a bill that would have added Medicaid work requirements, would save $109 billion dollars.

The budget office said about 15 million people would be subject to the bill’s work requirement, although many could be eligible for an exemption. The report also estimated that although about 1.5 million people would lose federal Medicaid funding once all states comply with the bill’s mandate to establish work requirements, about 60% of those people would remain on Medicaid with state-only funding. That would leave about 600,000 people uninsured, the report said.

The report referred to a 2022 analysis of Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas that said the requirements "appear to have had little effect on employment" and that they "reduced benefits more than they have increased people’s earnings."

In Trump’s first administration, Arkansas in 2018 became the first to implement Medicaid work requirements. A federal judge halted the state’s policy after 18,000 people lost their benefits. Arkansas in January said it is again seeking a Medicaid work requirement.

With Trump’s return to the presidency, some Republican-led states may again pursue adding Medicaid work requirements. Russell Vought, Trump’s Office of Management and Budget director, said at his January Senate confirmation hearing that he still supports work requirements for Medicaid’s 72 million recipients.

Georgia is the only state currently with Medicaid work requirements under its Georgia Pathways to Coverage Program, an alternative to the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion that has strict work requirements. Critics said the program has enrolled less than 4% of the 168,000 people who are eligible.