***For Immediate Release***
December 17, 2025
Contact: Sierra Salgado Pirigyi
Communications Director, Nebraska Appleseed
Office: 402-438-8853 x116
sierrasp@neappleseed.org
RELEASE: Nebraska Hastily Implementing Work Requirements Will Cause Tens of Thousands to Unnecessarily Lose Medicaid Coverage
LINCOLN, NE – This morning, Governor Jim Pillen announced that Nebraska will be the first in the nation to move forward with implementing work requirements for Medicaid as passed in H.R.1, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
Nebraska Appleseed Health Care Access Program Director Sarah Maresh issued the following statement in response:
“This is a mistake. We have seen in other states that when Medicaid work requirements are implemented too quickly, like what Nebraska is proposing here, thousands of people who are eligible for the program unnecessarily lose coverage and millions of state dollars are wasted on ineffective administrative costs.
We know a vast majority of Nebraskans subject to these requirements work or meet an exemption to work requirements, but rushing to implement work requirements will cause them to lose coverage anyway. The fact that the Governor is already estimating that 30,000 people will lose their coverage proves that our state is not prepared or ready for the task ahead of them.
Our state should take its time to implement the requirements set by H.R.1 to ensure that all eligible Nebraskans maintain the health care coverage they need.”
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