"The Trump administration's action today is cruel," said Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey. The new policy is "the latest salvo of the Trump administration's war on health care," according to a health-care advocacy group. "The pain is the point" of the policy, wrote columnist and economist Paul Krugman. 

They were attacking the Trump administration's decision last week to allow states to impose work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries. But far from being a "cruel" action designed to inflict "pain" on the vulnerable, the administration's decision is completely reasonable. 

Let's start with the facts. First, the work requirements are targeted for able-bodied adults of working age. They do not apply to the elderly, to pregnant women or to the disabled. In addition, "work" is construed broadly to include community service, education, job training, volunteer service and treatment for substance abuse, among other potential forms of community engagement or self-betterment.