Nebraska becomes first state to impose Medicaid work requirements before OBBB deadline

Nebraska became the first U.S. state to impose Medicaid work requirements eight months before the deadline set in the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The new rules, enacted Friday, apply to people who qualified for Medicaid under an expansion requiring able-bodied adults ages 19 to 64 to engage in work or other qualifying activities as a condition of receiving benefits under the government health insurance program. About 70,000 Nebraskans enrolled in Medicaid through the expansion, and the move could cut around 25,000 residents who qualified under the expansion, according to the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan research group. The expansion requires that enrollees work or perform community service for at least 80 hours a month, or be at least part-time students, with some exemptions. New Medicaid enrollees must now submit proof, and those already on the health insurance program will have until at least the end of July to do so. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, alongside Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, announced in December the state’s goal of implementing the work requirements by May 1. “These requirements will help Nebraskans achieve greater self-sufficiency through employment and other meaningful activities,” Mr. Pillen, a Republican, said at