OMAHA- Around 80,000 Nebraskans are expected to lose Medicaid coverage in the coming months now that the federal Covid-related public health emergency is expiring and pandemic-era protections are ending. Some of those who will lose coverage include those who make too much money at work to qualify, found a job with health benefits, and have had children move out during the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, state officials and community health advocates worry that others may be kicked off the program even if they still qualify since state Medicaid workers won't be able to reach them for newly resumed eligibility reviews. "The biggest thing is we really, really, really want to make sure we're not dropping anybody from coverage who's still eligible," said Kevin Bagley, Nebraska's State Medicaid Director.

During the federal public health emergency, Congress required that states keep everyone on Medicaid who enrolled on or after March 18th, 2020. According to Congress, this move was intended to ensure that as many people as possible had health coverage during the pandemic. Despite this, President Biden announced last month that he was ending the Covid emergency starting May 11th, which set off a national "unwind" process under which states were required to begin reviewing Medicaid recipients, a practice done pre-pandemic.

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