Public Comment

Kentucky’s House Bill 2 took effect July 15, 2026, establishing an 80-hour monthly work or community-engagement requirement for certain adults receiving Medicaid. Exemptions apply to specified groups, but implementation raises questions about reporting systems, fluctuating work schedules, caregiving, rural employment, disability determinations, and whether coverage losses reflect noncompliance or paperwork failures. Community engagement can include qualifying work, education, training, volunteering, or other approved activities used to satisfy a benefit requirement. Supporting work is reasonable, but healthcare is what allows many people to keep working. A reporting failure should not become an untreated condition or an emergency-room bill.

Should Medicaid coverage depend on work or community-engagement hours?

Overall results

1
58% support · excluded by 2%
7

Job placement and skills programs address the reasons people are unemployed more directly than removing medical coverage.

7

The state should measure employment and health outcomes against administrative costs rather than treating case closures as proof of success.

2
54% support · excluded by 7%
7

The state should verify wages, education, and benefit records automatically instead of requiring people to repeatedly submit information government already possesses.

7

Exemptions must cover caregiving, short-term illness, transportation barriers, seasonal work, and people awaiting disability decisions.

3
48% support · excluded by 10%
7

Able-bodied adults receiving taxpayer-funded coverage should work, train, study, or serve their communities when opportunities are available.

4
40% support · excluded by 12%

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