Disabled Americans who work describe a bind that does not fit the usual debate about benefits and employment: earning more can cost them the coverage that makes working possible. Reporting from NPR and KFF Health News documents an Iowa finance manager who gave up Medicaid rather than quit a job that paid above her state's cap, and who now spends roughly $35,000 a year out of pocket on nursing visits, vehicle modifications, and wheelchair repairs.
Medicaid work requirements arriving next year sharpen the contradiction. States are preparing to verify that many enrollees are working, volunteering, or studying at least 80 hours per month. That policy sits alongside eligibility rules that penalize disabled people already working when they earn more.
