Nebraska nonprofit urges Medicaid recipients to be aware of re-applying

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - A Nebraska nonprofit is sounding the alarm for members of Medicaid.

Nebraska Center for Healthy Families is concerned that people are not aware that this year Medicaid members must re-apply to be eligible for benefits. For the last few years, re-applying for the benefit was not necessary.

During the COVID-19 state of emergency, the state of Nebraska automatically updated Medicaid members to make sure they were covered.

Now, starting March 1, Nebraska Medicaid will once again review all Medicaid members’ coverage to see who still qualifies.

“Starting March 1, people will have to renew their Medicaid coverage,” said Doris Lassiter with Nebraska Center for Healthy Families. “That’s the issue, so my concern is that people who have moved or who have changed email addresses, maybe they had children, they need to let the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid know that and call them.”

Lassiter says Medicaid members will receive a notice asking for updates, but she doesn’t want them to wait on the mail, she wants people to be more proactive and notify officials of any changes.

“And this could be a situation where somebody has had an additional child, or maybe their income has changed, or they moved. The state of Nebraska Health and Human Services will need to know that. If they don’t get that confirmation, if they don’t get feedback, get information back from the Medicaid client then they may lose their coverage for a bit.”

At One World Community Health Center, the staff is already helping their clients make their way through the Medicaid renewal process.

“We send out about a hundred letters just yesterday of those people who need to renew their Medicaid within the next two months, and we’re also going to send a care message if they need our help to just reply yes,” said Teresa Chavez with One World Community Health Center.

Chavez says they can still help if a client is making more money and no longer qualifies for Medicaid.

“Sometimes a person’s income may change and if the do not meet the Medicaid eligibility requirements, Nebraska will refer them to the marketplace where they can still get low-cost healthcare.”

“During the COVID-19 state of emergency, all the cases remained open so it didn’t matter if they did not renew their Medicaid if they did not send the verification, that it was needed, it didn’t matter if they didn’t do anything about it, they remained open but now that it’s ending on March 31, if they don’t renew or send the verification needed they will close the cases.”

Officials say it’s important that all families are aware of the renewal process, so no family has to go without health insurance.

You can get help with the Medicaid renewal process at One World Community Health Centers by calling 402-502-8888 or e-mailing marketplace@oneworldomaha.org

If you have questions about the Medicaid renewal process in Nebraska, get in touch with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The Nebraska DHHS says Medicaid members can check their renewal date and update contact information by going online, emailing at DHHS.ANDICenter@nebraska.gov or calling.

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