U.S. Representative Greg Murphy (R-SC), who is also a practicing urologist with a medical practice in Greenville, is in favor of applying a work requirement to those Americans who receive Medicaid benefits.
Note: A recent list of spending cuts circulated among House Republicans suggested that a work requirement would slash $120 billion from Medicaid over the next 10 years. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that, if the work requirement passes, “36 million Medicaid enrollees — including people in every state — could be at risk of losing their coverage under various proposals.”
Murphy commented on work requirement on Newsmax, where he said: “I still see patients, so this is very real to me. And I see a majority, I mean, not a majority, but I see a fair number of individuals who are on Medicaid and I can give you two incidents — it happened on the same day about six weeks ago in the office.
“One was a 35-year-old on Medicaid and he was on disability and he was no more disabled than you or I. And another one was a 48-year-old woman that was disabled because she couldn’t hear but she could hear me ask the questions and she had hearing aids in.”
He added, “There is no reason someone should be on Medicaid, disabled and not be working.”
“I don’t personally think they’re disabled.”
Rep. Greg Murphy, who is a physician, said he believes some of the Medicaid patients he sees do not qualify for the program. pic.twitter.com/sz9tQK2zYb
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) March 26, 2025
When asked, “So are you saying that they both should not be on Medicare?” Murphy corrected the questioner. “Medicaid, Medicaid is the one that does disabilities,” he said, and added, “No, I don’t personally believe that they are disabled. And I’ve seen this time and time again.”
Note: In January, Murphy reintroduced the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act, legislation to support physicians who care for Medicare beneficiaries. Murphy wrote “The cost of caring for a Medicare patient far outpaces the reimbursement that physicians receive for seeing them,” and the proposed legislation would “ensure that providers are not penalized by harmful cuts while adjusting reimbursements for inflation.”