Nebraska becomes first U.S. state to enact Medicaid work requirements

MoneyWatch Nebraska becomes first U.S. state to enact Medicaid work requirements .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-moneywatch.jpg'); } By Aimee Picchi Aimee Picchi Associate Managing Editor, MoneyWatch Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports. Read Full Bio Aimee Picchi May 1, 2026 / 12:45 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Nebraska on Friday became the first U.S. state to enact Medicaid work requirements, seven months ahead of the deadline set by the Republicans' "big, beautiful bill" law.Health care policy experts say they are closely watching Nebraska's early rollout of the new rules, which apply to people enrolled in Medicaid under an expansion that allowed more low- and middle-income earners to qualify for the government health insurance program. About 70,000 Nebraskans enrolled in Medicaid through the expansion, out of the roughly 346,000 Medicaid recipients in the state. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, in 2025 described the new requirements as a way to cut "fraud, waste and abuse" in Medicaid. However, several experts warn the restrictions could hinder access, with The Urban Institute estimating that the changes may result in up to 10 million people losing Medicaid coverage in the next two years."Nebraska going early is going to allow us to kind of see what might be working, what aspects of implementation may not be working," said Jennifer Tolbert, deputy director of KFF's Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured, in an online event on Thursday focused on the work requirements. About 25,000 Medicaid enrollees in Nebraska could lose their health insurance under the new rules, or about 36% of those subject to the restrictions, according to the Urban Instit...