Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday that Arkansas will seek federal approval to require Medicaid recipients to work or volunteer to keep their benefits. Why it matters: About 220,000 Arkansans receive Medicaid benefits,

Unlike the previous requirement under Asa Hutchinson, Sanders wants her work rule to apply even to Arkansans ages 50-64.

Gov. Sarah Sanders on Tuesday (Jan. 28) pitched the new Trump administration for a waiver to Arkansas’ Medicaid insurance program that will add a work requirement for able-bodied individuals.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced her plans for a Medicaid work requirement at a Tuesday news conference. Sanders said the program will update the existing ARHOME Medicaid program. The “Pathway to Prosperity” update will establish work and community engagement requirements.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced a push for a new work requirement for people on Medicaid. She sent a letter to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nominee for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary. The plan would require Medicaid recipients who are able-bodied and of working age to work.

It sounds as if the governor is considering a broader requirement than the short-lived work rule instituted by her predecessor, Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is asking the Trump administration to allow imposing a work requirement for "able-bodied" recipients of the Medicaid expansion program.

Changes could be coming for Arkansans who are on Medicaid. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is proposing to add work requirements for some Medicaid recipients. Similar rules were imposed in the state in 2018 but later struck down by the Biden administration.