This video segment discusses a new Trump administration rule that imposes work requirements on Medicaid recipients, even those with terminal illnesses. Previously, a diagnosis of a serious condition like cancer, HIV, or Parkinson's was sufficient to be exempt from work requirements. However, the new rule mandates that individuals must also provide documentation proving their illness 'significantly impairs their ability to work 80 hours a month.' This policy has faced legal challenges, with Democratic attorneys general from 25 states and the District of Columbia suing to block it. Despite these efforts, a federal judge in Massachusetts recently refused to halt the rule, allowing it to proceed. The work requirements are set to take effect in January. The segment also contextualizes this policy as a measure to offset the costs of the previous year's Republican tax and budget bill, which provided over a trillion dollars in tax cuts to the wealthiest 1%. The implication is that the burden of these tax cuts is being shifted to vulnerable populations, including sick and poor individuals who are now required to complete additional paperwork. The segment highlights the financial precarity of cancer patients over 50, noting that over 40% exhaust their savings within two years, and suggests this new rule adds an undue burden to their already difficult circumstances.

Thom Hartmann Program

Should a dying cancer patient have to prove she's too sick to work?

Under a new Trump administration rule, a terminal diagnosis is not enough to get you out of Medicaid work requirements. Cancer, HIV, Parkinson's, none of it counts by itself. You also have to document that your illness quote significantly impairs your ability to work 80 hours a month.

Democratic attorneys general from 25 states of the District of Columbia have sued to stop this. Thursday, a federal judge in Massachusetts refused to block the rule, so it moves ahead. The work requirements hit in January.

Remember where this came from? Last year's Republican tax and budget bill shoved over a trillion dollars in tax cuts to the richest 1%, then helped pay for it by making sick poor people fill out forms. More than four in 10 cancer patients over 50 burn through everything they own within two years. Now they get homework, too.

Why Should Dying Patients Prove Unfitness to Work?

Should a dying cancer patient have to
prove she's too sick to work?
Under a new Trump administration rule, a
terminal diagnosis is not enough to get
you out of Medicaid work requirements.
Cancer, HIV, Parkinson's, none of it
counts by itself. You also have to
document that your illness quote
significantly impairs your ability to
work 80 hours a month.
Democratic attorneys general from 25
states of the District of Columbia have
sued to stop this. Thursday, a federal
judge in Massachusetts refused to block
the rule, so it moves ahead. The work
requirements hit in January. Remember
where this came from? Last year's
Republican tax and budget bill shoved
over a trillion dollars in tax cuts to
the richest 1%, then helped pay for it
by making sick poor people fill out
forms. More than four in 10 cancer
patients over 50 burn through everything
they own within two years. Now they get
homework, too.

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Why Should Dying Patients Prove Unfitness to Work?

Transcription