Health Navigator Perspectives on Implementation of Healthy Michigan Plan Work Requirements

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Policy
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Michigan Medicaid's Healthy Michigan Plan (HMP) introduced a work requirement policy in 2020.
• Enrollees must report 80 hours of qualifying activities monthly or secure an exemption to maintain coverage.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate health navigators' experiences with implementing Michigan's Medicaid work requirement policy.
• To understand the impact on beneficiaries through the navigators' perspective.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study involving 11 focus groups with health navigators in Michigan.
• Surveys administered to assess readiness, communication quality, and background information.

Main Results:

• Navigators felt prepared, viewing policy communication as an improvement.
• Challenges identified include policy complexity, limited language options, confusing exemption guidelines, and barriers to reporting (internet, phone, literacy).
• The online reporting system was generally user-friendly.

Conclusions:

• Positive feedback on human-centered design and automatic exemptions, but reporting barriers persist.
• Recommendations include reducing administrative hurdles and adopting human-centered design to prevent benefit loss.