LINCOLN - Low-income adults who have been previously shut out of Nebraska Medicaid can start applying for coverage on Aug. 1. They will be able to start getting care two months later, on Oct. 1.

Molly McCleery, director of health care access for Nebraska Appleseed, a Lincoln-based advocacy group that pushed the ballot measure, said she is excited that more Nebraskans will finally be able to get the health care they need.

State Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln, who led the petition drive that put the issue on the ballot, criticized the long wait for implementation, which has exceeded that of any other state. He blamed the delay on Gov. Pete Ricketts, who fought the expansion as being unaffordable and favoring able-bodied Nebraskans over vulnerable citizens.

“The governor made an intentional decision to delay Medicaid expansion by adding unnecessary and unlawful requirements,” he said. “It has led to tens of millions of wasted taxpayer dollars, an unnecessary yearlong delay and nearly 100,000 Nebraskans without care that Nebraskans voted for in 2018.”

Ricketts has said the time was needed so Nebraska could implement the program smoothly and avoid mistakes made by other states. His spokesman, Taylor Gage, noted the state had met the April 1, 2019, deadline to submit its expansion plan to the federal government.

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