Orphans. Coal Mines. And the Audacity to Expect 20 Hours of Work

I would like to interrupt your day with some startling news.
It’s wild, controversial, and considered scandalous by many. Cruel, even.
Are you sitting down? Okay, good. Here goes…

able bodied adults should be expected to contribute in exchange for taxpayer-funded healthcare.

I TOLD YOU this was cruel, wild and controversial. And I am every color of miffed over this unnecessary new requirement from The Bad Orange Man.
It is as wrong as…

—asking someone to wear pants to the grocery store
—putting a password on your WiFi
—paying rent if you live in someone else’s house
—requiring a student to do homework if they want to pass the class
—requiring a drivers license before handing someone the car keys

I mean, the nerve, right?

But that’s part of the new bill Congress passed. It requires Medicaid recipients to work 80 HOURS A WEEK. What a monster!
WAIT. No. That’s wrong.

Hold on…it’s not 80 hours a week.
It’s 80 hours a MONTH. Oh.

But, what if you can’t find work? Then you are out on your Medicaid keister. ANIMALS.

WAIT. Turns out, if you don’t work you can volunteer for 80 hours a month, instead. Oh.

But still, this applies to every Medicaid recipient, right? This will devastate the vulnerable. Is there no end to the cruelty? THROW OUT ALL THE ORANGE THINGS.
WAIT. No. That’s wrong, too.

You are exempt if you are disabled.
You are exempt if you are caring for children under the age of 14.
You are exempt if you are elderly, sick, mentally unwell.
You are exempt if enduring a catastrophic life event.

Well, this is interesting. Because everywhere I look, from the media to the socials, the simple idea of “Hey, if you can, you need to contribute something in exchange for free healthcare” has been framed as an attack on humanity. You’d think Congress and the Bad Orange Man voted to force orphans back into the coal mines.

Turns out, asking someone to contribute something in exchange for government benefits isn’t cruel…it’s common sense.

If you’re physically and mentally able to work, volunteer, or look for work, then YES, absolutely you should. I mean, this isn’t Victorian-era workhouse stuff; we’re talking 20 hours a week.

Actual Image of Medicaid recipients on break

See, the money funding these programs ain’t Monopoly money—it’s real. And it comes from the weathered wallets of taxpayers. And the taxpayers funding these programs?
Newsflash: they are working. Often long hours. Many have bills stacked higher than their bank balances. And yet, they show up to work and pay into a system that’s supposed to help those in need, but…NOT those unwilling.

Every working class person who’s ever had to bust their butt to keep the lights on already understands this. Why shouldn’t the system expect the same of those receiving benefits from the very taxes these folks pay?

Now, to be fair, most Medicaid recipients DO work at least a part time job. Out of 80 million Medicaid recipients in the United States (80 million-let that number sink in) estimates show that approximately 8-9% of recipients are able bodied yet not working. That doesn’t sound too bad, right?

But 8% of 80 million is 6.4 million.
Six. Point. Four. Million.

Holy smokes. Approximately six and a half million people who are not encumbered by disability or school or caregiving or the limits of old age are collecting benefits. That’s more than the entire population of Colorado. Wait…WHAT?

This has to change. And it’s a GOOD change.
Why? Well, here’s the part no one wants to say out loud: work has value beyond money.
It builds structure.
It builds self-worth.
It builds reliance on self.
It builds a sense of purpose.

And we’re talking anything: volunteering, job training…heck, even TRYING to get hired. Just the act of looking for work keeps us connected to our communities and out of the slow, soul-crushing slide into dependence.

Work and service, whether paid or not, adds meaning to a person’s life. Honor.

And let’s get real. If we’re going to live in a country where government assistance exists (and we are) then it is entirely reasonable to expect some degree of effort in return from those fully capable of contributing.

Again, this ain’t Victorian England. No one’s being dragged off to “the workhouse.”
Kids, not everyone in the system is a Dicken’s character.

Sorry to burst any bubbles here but there’s this deeply entrenched idea in <cough cough> certain circles that anyone receiving government assistance is automatically a helpless, well-meaning angel who just fell on hard times and is doing everything they can to claw their way back.

To be CRYSTAL CLEAR: those people do exist. They are real. They are struggling. They are trying. And they deserve support.

This law is simply asking for 20 hours a week from those who can.
Part time.
Less time than most people spend bing-watching Netflix and doom scrolling on their phone. Or playing Candy Crush.

Work. Volunteer at a food pantry. Help clean up a city park. Go to a job training program. Show up to an interview.

This isn’t cruelty…it’s dignity.
It’s the belief that every person can contribute something meaningful and be part of something bigger than themselves. That isn’t cruel and that is not oppression.

Dear Baby Jesus in a manger, that’s the very spirit this country was built on: freedom with responsibility, help with honor, opportunity with expectations.

America is not here to trap people into dependence; she wants to lift them into possibility. Because THAT is what America does best.

And it’s time our policies remembered that.

#AmericaWorksWhenAmericaWorks