Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Penn., has new legislation that would force lottery winners, including anyone lucky enough to win the upcoming $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot, to get off Medicaid.
“Medicaid is meant to help the poor — not big jackpot winners. This bill, which would save taxpayers $400 million, will make sure that Medicaid funding is targeted to those who need it most,” Pitts said of his No Medicaid for Jackpot Winners Act.
Pitts proposes to “treat lump sum lottery winnings as income.” They are not currently designated as such for the purpose of Medicaid eligibility.
Under his bill, winning anything up to $60,000 would be considered as a month’s worth of income that would make people ineligible for Medicaid. Another month of ineligibility would be added for every additional $10,000 won, and taking home several hundred million dollars would make people ineligible for life.
Pitts cites Obamacare as the reason states can’t address this problem themselves.
“The president’s health law created a uniform federal definition of [lump sums for the purposes of income calculation]. As a result, states no longer have discretion to remove lottery winners from their Medicaid rolls,” Pitts’ office said in a press release.
