Undeterred by lawsuits, federal court rulings, and widespread moral outrage over its efforts to strip life-saving healthcare from tens of thousands of vulnerable Americans, the Trump administration is reportedly planning to sign off on yet another flurry of waivers that would allow Republican governors like Wisconsin’s Scott Walker to impose deeply cruel work requirements and other punitive restrictions on Medicaid recipients.

“If you’re poor or disabled, the GOP wants you to die,” actor and democratic socialist Rob Delaney wrote in response to a new Politico‘s report late Thursday detailing the Trump administration’s plan to approve a “new round” of Medicaid restrictions in Maine, Arizona, and Wisconsin.

“One of the most controversial changes sought by the states is Wisconsin’s attempt to drug test its Medicaid applicants—an effort that advocates and lawyers say is illegal,” Politico reported, noting that Walker has been relentlessly pushing to drug test Medicaid and food stamp recipients for years.

While the White House isn’t likely to approve Walker’s full plan to drug test every Medicaid applicant and recipient due to legal barriers, “Wisconsin is expected to win approval to ask applicants to disclose on their Medicaid applications whether they’ve used drugs or are in recovery, but won’t make coverage decisions based on the answers provided,” Politico notes.

“The Trump administration seems intent on moving as quickly as possible to approve these harmful waivers which will clearly result in many more thousands of vulnerable people losing their Medicaid coverage.”
—Joan Alker, Georgetown University

But, according to Joan Alker—head of Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families—the very presence of such a question on a state Medicaid application could scare addicts and recovering addicts who badly need medical coverage.

“If people hear there’s a drug testing requirement, that might be a deterrent from even applying,” Alker noted. “The Trump administration seems intent on moving as quickly as possible to approve these harmful waivers which will clearly result in many more thousands of vulnerable people losing their Medicaid coverage.”