House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Thursday that Republican leadership will "absolutely" ensure that Medicaid work requirements go into effect sooner in order to help garner support from conservative holdouts on the reconciliation package, The Hill reported.
In the initial budget bill released this week, work requirements were set to take effect in 2029, a date House conservatives said was too far off and a major reason for pulling their support for the "one big, beautiful bill" to fund President Donald Trump's domestic policy agenda, according to the report.
Scalise did not give a timeline for work requirements to kick in.
"We haven't worked out those final details yet. But I think you can expect [the date] to move up," he said, according to The Hill.
In an appearance on The Hugh Hewitt Show on Thursday, Scalise also talked of work requirements as part of the reform budget hawks in the House are seeking to rein in Medicaid spending.
"This program has mushroomed and ballooned to where it almost doubles in cost every six years. That's not sustainable. So we're putting work requirements in place, which is really good," Scalise told Hewitt.
"Here's another thing we wanna fix: Is it fair that somebody who's able-bodied and healthy and making over the poverty level is getting 90% Medicaid reimbursement and a disabled person is only getting 65%? Why is that disparity there? That's not fair when this program was created for the truly needy, the disabled, pregnant moms," he added. "Let's try to scale it back for folks who can go get a job."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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