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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 1, 2024 02:08 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Jessica Benham and Rep. Joe Hogan |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities Modernization Act |
| In the near future, we will be introducing legislation updating Act 69 of 2021 the Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities Act. In 2022, only 35% of Pennsylvanians with disabilities were working, with only 30% working full time. For people with disabilities, finding a job or returning to work can be a challenge. These individuals, like anyone else, deserve the opportunity to work to their full potential without the fear of losing health care benefits. Unfortunately, private pay insurance does not offer the home and community-based services, like nursing care, that individuals with disabilities rely on to live their everyday lives which results in their reliance on MAWD. The Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities: Workers with Job Success (MAWD:WJS) statute allows individuals with disabilities to enter a new eligibility category which increases earning potential up to 600% of FPL and accrue unlimited earned assets. However, MAWD:WJS currently requires someone to be on basic MAWD for one year, which results in individuals taking a low-earning job regardless of the experience and training someone may have to offer. This legislation proposes that the eligibility afforded by MAWD:WJS be expanded to all categories of MAWD. This would allow people with disabilities to work, prosper and maintain the care they need to thrive in their lives thereby allowing people with disabilities in Pennsylvania to better maximize their potential. Expanding the eligibility in this way would make the system easier for county assistance offices and the public to understand, while minimizing the number of citizens who might lose MAWD benefits because of “working too much.” This plan would also be cheaper for the state to support than the current system. I hope that you will join us and co-sponsor this proposal. If you have any questions, please call (717) 783-0411. |
Introduced as HB2221