Mary Franklin, director of the Division of County Operations, Arkansas Department of Human Services listens during a media briefing on Medicaid eligibility review. At right is Mark White, secretary of DHS. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate/11/04/2022)
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…