OMAHA, Neb. —
Nebraska healthcare and advocacy groups hosted a community-led town hall meeting to hear public concerns about Nebraska’s early implementation of work requirements for Medicaid.
“The biggest issue I’d say overall is the symptom of a rushed implementation and what we are seeing is massive confusion,” Sarah Maresh, healthcare and access program director at Nebraska Appleseed, said.
According to advocacy group Nebraska Appleseed, over 1,000 Nebraskans are without Medicaid because of the expansion work requirements.
557 Medicaid applications were denied in May, June, July and August.533 were kicked off coverage in July and August.
On May 1, Nebraska became the first state to enforce work, volunteer or education requirements for new Medicaid applicants, eight months before federally mandated requitements.
Now, Medicaid participants ages 19 through 64 have to prove they work, do community service at least 80 hours a month, or, are enrolled in school at least half-time.
Cheri Stollar, a Medicaid recipient and mental health worker, said she’s already seeing the impact of the change in her clients lives and her own.
“A lot of workplaces are very tough for people, and if they’re not able to access their needs, address medical issues, medication management, it’s hard for them… the care they need is forcing them to keep these jobs,” Stollar said.
Stollar is anemic and has stomach ulcers. She does not believe that it’s fair for people with medical conditions that are had to have under working conditions, should be the way people like herself get treatment.
“It’s costing a lot of people their health, Stollar said. “It’s pretty much saying only people that are worth saving or people that have money to pay for a doctor visit.”
According to Nebraska Appleseed, the state hasn’t made updates to their systems so that Nebraskans can figure out what category of Medicaid they are in, causing confusion.
“What we are asking the state to do is to really quickly tell people and make it really available on their notices and their online portals that they’re in the Medicaid expansion group,” Maresh said.
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