Medicaid Will Have New Work Requirements Next Year

But some people with disabilities, who already work, say they'd like to work more, but risk losing their Medicaid coverage if they earn too much. Erica Carter of Sioux City, Iowa, says she enjoys her job as a finance manager for the Omaha Nation public school district in Nebraska, working to find grants and opportunities for low-income students. But when she learned her pay was too high for her to remain in an Iowa Medicaid program, Carter had to choose — leave the job or give up her benefits.

Erica Carter is passionate about her job, and she has 7 acres of flowers and vegetables to show for it. Carter's specialty is reeling in grants to support students in the Omaha Nation school district, where she is a finance manager. One paid for the garden that sits next to the district's campus.

Another allowed the school system, in one of Nebraska's lowest-income counties, to pay students to maintain it. "They're out in the sun. They're watering plants, she said.

"It's the first time they get a paycheck in their life. This story was produced in partnership with KFF Health News.