The state’s May 1 enforcement will be a test case for what could happen nationwide in January.
Nebraska is racing to implement Medicaid work requirements by May 1 — eight months before the national deadline set by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Congress last summer.
And not only is the state first out of the gate, its government plans to do it without hiring any additional staff, even as other state health departments prepare to bring aboard dozens if not hundreds of new employees to determine who should remain enrolled and who should be booted from the safety net health insurance program.
Policy experts and advocates for people on the Medicaid rolls fear the rushed timeline and understaffing will lead to disaster.
“The situation here on the ground is that people are afraid,” said Sarah Maresh, the program director for health care access at the nonprofit Nebraska Appleseed. “The fact that we’re so close to the implementation date and still have no real answers on a bunch of things, along with the lack of investment and resources, are all really concerning to us.”
The Medicaid work law, which Republicans passed on a party-line vote as a cost-saving measure to pay for their megabill, is predicted to kick millions, including many working adults, off the federal insurance when it takes effect around the country next January. The Trump administration and GOP officials maintain the rules will help root out fraud in the program and encourage people to get jobs, while...
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