Todd Richardson is hardly a stranger to high-stakes challenges.

He became Speaker of the Missouri House abruptly in 2015 after his predecessor resigned amid a scandal.

He also waded through the near-impeachment of Eric Greitens during his last year in elective office.

And as Medicaid director, he’s dealt with a once-in-a-generation pandemic and the expansion of the health care program to include the working poor.

As he enters his seventh year running Missouri’s Medicaid program, Richardson is confronting yet another challenge: Implementing work requirements in the recently-enacted One Big Beautiful Bill.