Michael Whatley, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, said in November 2025 that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's Medicaid work requirements are "widely supported in North Carolina." Under the federal rule carrying out the requirement, fewer people will qualify as medically frail, the Georgetown Center for Children and Families found, and in Nebraska, the first state to start it, over 1,000 people lost or were denied coverage between May and August 2026.
The law Whatley called "a huge win" also cuts Medicaid's retroactive coverage from three months to one or two months starting January 1, 2027, and its Medicaid cuts put optional home care at risk, even as Whatley told AARP in September 2026 that he will advocate for more access to home and community-based services. North Carolina had 22,300 people on Medicaid home-care waiting lists in KFF's most recent count.
Michael Whatley's Support for the Medicaid Changes That Reach People With Disabilities
- Whatley Defended the Medicaid Work Requirement That Makes Disabled Adults Prove They Are Exempt. In a November 2025 interview with Punchbowl News, Michael Whatley defended the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's Medicaid changes, including new work requirements: "Those are widely supported in North Carolina. Those are widely supported across the country." The law requires adults in the Medicaid expansion to show 80 hours a month of work, school or service, exempting people who are medically frail, and states must start by January 1, 2027. Under the federal rule carrying out the law, fewer people will qualify as medically frail because a condition must significantly impair their ability to work, and verifying it will place an enormous administrative burden on individuals, health care providers, health plans, and states, the Georgetown Center for Children and Families found. In Nebraska, the first state to start the requirement, over 1,000 people lost or were denied Medicaid coverage under the new requirements between May and August 2026, Human Rights Watch reported; one man said he lost his Medicaid coverage while undergoing treatment for kidney cancer.
- The Law Whatley Praised Cuts Medicaid's Retroactive Coverage for Medical Bills Before an Application. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Michael Whatley called "a huge win for all Americans" on July 3, 2025, ends the rule that states provide Medicaid coverage for qualified medical expenses incurred up to 90 days prior to an application. Section 71112 limits retroactive coverage to one month prior to application for coverage for people enrolling through the Medicaid expansion and two months for other enrollees, effective January 1, 2027. Bills for care received in the earlier months before an application will no longer be covered. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the change will reduce federal Medicaid spending by $4 billion over 10 years and increase the number of uninsured by 100,000 in 2034, KFF reports.
- Whatley Pledged to Expand Home Care After Praising a Law Whose Medicaid Cuts Put It at Risk. In written answers published by AARP on September 1, 2026, Michael Whatley said "I will advocate for increasing access to home- and community-based services". He had called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act "a huge win for all Americans" in July 2025. That law is projected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by an estimated $911 billion over 10 years, and home and community-based services, which let older adults and people with disabilities live at home rather than in institutions, are largely an optional Medicaid benefit; many policy experts anticipate the law will slow or reverse recent HCBS expansion efforts in states, the Bipartisan Policy Center reported. In North Carolina, hospital assessments pay $140 million to support wages for state-directed care workers who provide home and community-based services, and that funding may be in jeopardy of facing reductions or being eliminated entirely over time under the law's provider-tax limits, the North Carolina Medical Journal reported.
What the Medicaid Changes Michael Whatley Backed Mean for North Carolinians With Disabilities
- Home care waiting lists. North Carolina had 22,300 people waiting for Medicaid home care through home and community-based services waivers in 2026, by KFF's count from its annual waiver survey.
- Medicaid coverage. Changes in the law could take as many as a quarter-million North Carolinians off Medicaid starting in 2027, WRAL reported in May 2026; adults with disabilities who are not already recognized as exempt must document their condition to keep coverage under the work requirement.
- Who is covered. In North Carolina, expansion added more than 685,000 people to Medicaid, the adults to whom the work requirement and the shorter retroactive coverage period for expansion enrollees apply, according to the North Carolina Medical Journal.
Frequently Asked Questions About Michael Whatley on Disability rights
What is Michael Whatley's record on disability rights under Trump?
Michael Whatley defended the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's Medicaid work requirements as "widely supported in North Carolina" in November 2025, a requirement under which disabled adults must prove they are medically frail to stay exempt. The law he called "a huge win" also shortens retroactive Medicaid coverage from January 2027 and puts optional home care at risk, even though he told AARP he would advocate for more access to home and community-based services. Changes in the law could take as many as a quarter-million North Carolinians off Medicaid, WRAL reported.
Are people with disabilities exempt from the Medicaid work requirement Michael Whatley supports?
Michael Whatley defended a work requirement that exempts people with disabilities only if they prove they are medically frail: KFF reports that the federal rule defined "medical frailty" more narrowly than states expected, and the Georgetown Center for Children and Families notes that the rule limits an initial exemption to six months only.
When does the cut to retroactive Medicaid coverage in the law Michael Whatley praised take effect?
The retroactive coverage cut in the law Michael Whatley praised takes effect on January 1, 2027, when Medicaid will cover medical bills from one month before an application for expansion adults and two months for other enrollees, instead of up to 90 days. The law provides $15 million in implementation funding for FY 2026 for states to make the change.
Last updated: 2026-10-25