LINCOLN- A bill introduced in the Legislature aims to make it harder for state-hired insurance companies to aggressively audit therapists providing mental health help to low-income Nebraskans. That bill and a related one, both introduced by Sen. John Fredrickson, a Democrat from Omaha, followed a Flatwater Free Press investigation into the audits, which sometimes resulted in the insurance companies demanding tens of thousands of dollars back. Several therapists told FFP that the audits had prompted them to drop Medicaid patients.

“We want to ensure there’s very clear rules of engagement,” said Fredrickson, who before joining the Legislature was a mental health provider. So “that there’s no mystery around what it means to accept Medicaid.” Medicaid is cheap or free health insurance for Nebraskans who make only enough money to put them at or near the federal poverty line. States and the federal government share the cost. Nebraska is paying three companies $4.25 billion over the next six years to manage its Medicaid services.

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