By skyforbes 
Medicaid, Work Requirements, and the Cost of Looking “Deserving”
At first glance, mandating work requirements doesn’t sound so terrible. After all, shouldn’t all able-bodied, able-minded people be working to feed themselves and their families? Sure — but lives aren’t black and white, and policies like this seem to forget that real people live in full color.
Picture a single mom with two small kids, one of whom has complex neurodivergencies. She could work a part-time job at minimum wage and pay for childcare. But where’s the rent money coming from? Maybe Grandma can watch the kids — except Grandma’s struggling with addiction and it’s not safe. What’s this mother supposed to do? Or consider the young man who lives with his grandfather with dementia. He could put Grandpa in a home, something the old man never wanted. But who’s paying for that? And what if the only spot open is three towns away, making regular visits impossible?
These are not hypotheticals. These are the kinds of lives buried under the fine print of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” the current plan to cut Medicaid for anyone aged 19 to 65 who can’t verify 80 hours a month of work or “community engagement.” And no, that’s not just a line in the sand — it’s a whole tripwire minefield of red tape, reporting systems, confusing digital forms, and phone lines that…