Medicaid expansion delayed in order 'to do this right'

Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services officials told state senators Thursday that the nearly two-year delay in launching the expansion of Medicaid coverage directed by Nebraska voters was based on a determination to "take the time needed to do this right."

That was the message delivered by Matthew Van Patton, director of the Division of Medicaid and Long-Term Care, to members of the Legislature's Appropriations and Health and Human Services committees.

The department "met the only deadline in the initiative" enacted by Nebraska voters last November, Van Patton said. That was the April 1 deadline for submitting a state plan to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The launch date for extending coverage to an estimated 88,600 newly eligible adults, nearly all of whom work at low-paying jobs, is scheduled for Oct. 1, 2020, or 23 months after Nebraska voters approved Medicaid expansion.

Read more: https://journalstar.com/legislature/medicaid-expansion-delayed-in-order-to-do-this-right/article_1c941b9a-c41f-5600-ba1d-8dc1ffbd7a3f.html