From NPR · · 4m
Cancer diagnosis, then Medicaid cut off
Eli McCreary was told he lost Medicaid coverage after his kidney cancer diagnosis because he didn't meet Nebraska's new work requirements. He couldn't afford treatment.
In brief
Eli McCreary was told he lost Medicaid coverage after his kidney cancer diagnosis because he didn't meet Nebraska's new work requirements. He couldn't afford treatment. Nebraska's new Medicaid work requirements, the first in the nation, have created confusion and disrupted care for tens of thousands, including cancer…
Diagnosed with cancer, then cut off
Eli McCreary of Omaha, Nebraska, was diagnosed with kidney cancer in June. Shortly after, a hospital told him he'd lost his Medicaid coverage.
The reason: a work requirement
McCreary was told his Medicaid benefits now required him to have a job. He was 64, battling drug addiction, and had diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“You're required to do work to stay on. And you haven't fulfilled your work requirement.”
Unable to work, unable to afford care
McCreary said he couldn't walk, could hardly breathe, and couldn't move around. He canceled a CT scan and other cancer tests at the hospital.
“I don't understand what job I can get. I can't walk. I can hardly breathe. I can't move around. What job am I going to get?”
Nebraska moves first on work rules
Nebraska launched Medicaid work requirements on May 1, determined to be the first state to enforce them under President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Governor celebrates the rollout
Gov. Jim Pillen said in December that state officials appreciate President Trump for delivering this key reform. He spoke alongside Mehmet Oz, the Trump administration official overseeing Medicare and Medicaid.
“We're excited to be able to be the first to make it happen.”
State claims success, advocates disagree
Nebraska's health department said eighty-six percent of affected applicants met the requirement or qualified for an exemption. Health clinics say the rollout has been rife with problems due to poor training and inadequate staffing.
Seventy thousand Nebraskans affected
About seventy thousand adult Medicaid recipients in Nebraska are subject to work requirements. They must prove they're working or participating in a similar activity for eighty hours a month, unless they qualify for an exemption.
Eight point two million in contractor costs
Nebraska budgeted eight point two million dollars in contractor costs over two years to enact Medicaid changes, including work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks.
Two companies hired to help
Nebraska uses Public Consulting Group, based in Boston, and Atlanta-based Covendis to increase agency staffing. Nebraska listed at least half a dozen contractors costing more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars each.
Advocates call spending shocking
Sarah Maresh, a program director with Nebraska Appleseed, said the contractor amounts were shocking. She said large corporations are making money behind the scenes while complicated policies are implemented quietly.
“When you put in complicated policies like this, there are large corporations making money behind the scenes.”
Call center wait times nearly doubled
State data shows average wait times at Nebraska's health department call center nearly doubled between May and July, going from about thirteen minutes to twenty-six minutes.
Calls jumped sixty-six percent
Nebraska received more than one hundred one thousand calls in August, a sixty-six percent jump from May. Advocates said they've encountered people who waited on the phone for hours.
Working people can't navigate the system
Kenny McMorris, CEO of Charles Drew Health Center in North Omaha, said working people don't have time to sit on the phone going through all the requirements.
“If people are working, they just don't have time to be sitting on the phone to go through all of this stuff.”
McCreary called the wrong number
When McCreary called for help, he reached a call center for SNAP accounts that Nebraska outsources to a private company, not the state's Medicaid help line.
He should have been exempt
Attorneys and policy professionals said McCreary's substance use treatment lasting four months starting in November twenty twenty-five, and his health conditions, should have exempted him from work requirements.
Millions more will face work rules
Next year, work requirements will apply to millions of adult Medicaid enrollees in more than forty states.
McCreary's cancer has grown
McCreary is now enrolled in Medicare. He was able to reschedule his canceled appointments. He had surgery in early November to remove his right kidney.
“The cancer has grown so much.”
At a glance
Nebraska's new Medicaid work requirements, the first in the nation, have created confusion and disrupted care for tens of thousands, including cancer patients unable to work.
