Tech, Financial Firms Sign On to Build Medicaid Work Requirement

The Trump administration announced its partnership with more than 15 technology, health, and financial services companies to implement its new Medicaid work requirement.

Prominent companies that signed on to long-term contracts with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include Google, Deloitte, Transunion, Experian, Equifax, and Gainwell Technologies, a Medicaid claims processor that has faced scrutiny over allegations it routinely failed to catch fraud and misspending.

The CMS told reporters Thursday it plans to leverage these companies’ technologies to connect beneficiaries to work opportunities and to track performance outcomes.

The announcement comes as states across the country prepare to adapt to a nationwide work requirement introduced in last July’s Republican tax and spending package. Under the policy starting in January 2027, able-bodied Medicaid recipients over 18 years old will be required to document that they’ve completed at least 80 hours per month of work or community service or be enrolled in an education program.

Similar programs introduced at the state level have run into roadblocks. In 2018, Arkansas saw over 18,000 people lose coverage under its work requirement. Many of these losses were attributed to issues with reporting and compliance, such as beneficiaries being unable to set up online accounts to prove they are working.

At Thursday’s announcement, Director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services Dan Brillman said he wanted to make that experience better for beneficiaries.

“We want data-first approaches and automation versus more paperwork for beneficiaries and service providers,” Brillman said.

“So what does that mean? We want to check data automatically and today we want to make that better, and say, ‘you’re good to go beneficiary— you don’t have to put all your paperwork together and make this burdensome on you.’”

To make this happen, the CMS says it is encouraging companies to adopt innovative tools to support outreach, community-based referral coordination, and secure data sharing.

The agency says this will help mitigate the administrative burden for both state Medicaid agencies and beneficiaries.