Some may soon lose Medicaid eligibility, but options are available

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska) – Medicaid beneficiary requirements are set to return to pre-pandemic state.

Normally, Medicaid beneficiary eligibility reviews are conducted annually to ensure that recipients still meet the requirements.

Due to COVID-19, these reviews were suspended when the government declared a public health emergency in March 2020.

This meant that anyone already on Medicaid could stay even if there were changes in their lives that would make them ineligible before COVID hit.

Since the Biden administration has declared the public health emergency to end in May, Nebraska’s Medicaid eligibility reviews will return in March.

Kevin Bagley, director of Medicaid in the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, says nearly 390,000 people use Medicaid in Nebraska, and with the return of eligibility checks, some could lose coverage.

“We were able to estimate that between 10 and 20% of these individuals will lose eligibility over the next 12 months as we go through this reassessment process.”

If you lose Medicaid, your prescription coverage will suffer, but there are avenues pharmacies can take to help you get your meds.

“We will reach out to doctors and see if we can work together to find something that is less expensive but will still take care of their needs,” said Dr. Monty Steele of RelyCare Pharmacy.

If your Medicaid reassessment makes you ineligible, Bagley wants you to know the following:

“If we have someone who we think is no longer eligible, let’s say their income has improved in recent years, they’re in a better position, they no longer meet the income requirements to be eligible for Medicaid, what we’re going to do is take their information and send them to the federal market so they can start the registration process if they want.

For those coming off Medicaid, market-based health insurance plans typically have subsidies that lower health insurance premium rates.

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