Arkansas will begin checking the employment status of some Medicaid beneficiaries this summer under what’s being billed as a “soft launch” of work requirements that aren’t set to be enforced until next year.
Mary Franklin, DHS’ director of the Division of County Operations, told lawmakers Thursday that the new work requirements under the “Big Beautiful Bill” spending and tax cut measure signed by President Donald Trump would not be enforced until January. The department planned to do the employment checks before penalties kick in since it is such a “big change” for beneficiaries, she said.
Starting in July, the agency will test the process it will use to automatically check if people are meeting the work requirements, without requiring them to submit additional information. The checks will use data already available to DHS, such as wage data or information from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which currently has a work requirement…