Episode 310: The Politics Behind Medicaid

New Medicaid rules could make it harder for millions of Americans to keep their health coverage. Professor Jamila Michener explains how work requirements, more frequent eligibility checks, and higher out-of-pocket costs could push eligible people off the program. Drawing on conversations with Medicaid recipients, she explores why politicians keep invoking fraud to justify cuts, why the people most affected have little say in how Medicaid works, and what it would take to change that.

For more on this topic:
• Read Michener's op-ed in Syracuse.com, Historic Medicaid Cuts Are a Body Blow to Vulnerable Americans

• Read her article in Health Affairs, The Future Of Medicaid And The Imperative Of Organized Power

• Check out her book, Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism, and Unequal Politics