Rep. Chuck Edwards voted for a law that adds new paperwork hurdles for families to keep their Medicaid coverage. The 2025 budget bill he backed requires many adults to prove they work at least 80 hours a month—and to regularly submit forms and updates to keep their health insurance. Health experts warn these red tape rules will cause eligible people to lose coverage just because they miss paperwork deadlines or get caught in reporting errors. The Congressional Budget Office says the policy will push millions off Medicaid and sharply increase the number of uninsured Americans, even though most of those affected are already working or caring for family.
- On July 3, 2025, Edwards voted Aye to concur in the Senate’s amendment to H.R. 1, sending the reconciliation package to the President; that law (P.L. 119-21) includes mandatory Medicaid work/reporting requirements and other provisions that reduce coverage. (clerk.house.gov)
- The enacted reconciliation law requires expansion states to implement Medicaid work reporting rules (80 hours/month) beginning in 2027 and adds related eligibility/re-determination hurdles, which make it easier to terminate coverage. (ccf.georgetown.edu)
- Edwards publicly defended his vote, saying the bill “strengthens Medicaid” and “establishes reasonable work requirements” for non‑pregnant, childless adults—confirming his support for these policies. (edwards.house.gov)
- Independent health policy analysts say the Medicaid work rules in H.R. 1 will create new red tape and paperwork hurdles for enrollees: Georgetown’s Center for Children and Families warns that the law’s 80-hours-per-month “community engagement” requirement and related reporting rules will “increase administrative burdens” and make it easier for states to terminate coverage for people who miss paperwork or reporting deadlines. (ccf.georgetown.edu)
- For H.R. 2811, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that, in an average year, about 15 million adults would be subject to Medicaid work requirements and roughly 1.5 million would lose federal Medicaid coverage, increasing the number of uninsured; CBO also found no employment gains—findings summarized by KFF. (kff.org)
- KFF’s state-by-state analysis found that if the H.R. 2811 policy were fully implemented in 2024, about 1.7 million people would lose federal Medicaid unless states spent an additional $10.3 billion to keep them covered. (kff.org)
- Analysts at Urban Institute and Brookings projected substantially larger losses under the House plan—on the order of 4.6 to 6.3 million people losing Medicaid—findings compiled by the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). (cbpp.org)
- For the 2025 reconciliation law that Edwards backed, CBO estimates a net increase of about 10 million uninsured people by 2034, including 7.5 million due to Medicaid/CHIP provisions; CBO identifies the new Medicaid work‑reporting requirement as the single largest driver of these coverage losses. (ccf.georgetown.edu)