Kelli Austin isn’t sure she could consistently work 80 hours per month.

Her body won’t let her.

“There are days I can’t get out of bed,” said Austin, 38, of Waterville. “There are days I can’t use the bathroom on my own.”

She has numerous physical and mental health conditions and is able to work part-time — usually 50 to 100 hours per month. But starting as soon as January 2027, she’ll have to work 80 hours each month to keep her Medicaid insurance.

“Without Medicaid, what would I do?” Austin said. “I would be dead.”

The new work requirements drive much of the expected $911 billion in Medicaid cuts in the Republican budget bill approved last month and signed into law by President Donald Trump.

Under the new rules, adult Medicaid enrollees will need to prove they are working, vol

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