Nebraska Medicaid Wraps Up Statewide Listening Tour

By Barb Tyler

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services MLTC Division has wrapped up its recent Medicaid listening tour across the state.

“Tours like this are important to make sure our department is heading in the right direction," DHHS CEO Dannette R. Smith said. “Making sure we're hearing from the public is the only way we can grow."

Throughout October, Medicaid teammates visited seven cities across the state and held two virtual meetings as part of “Moving Forward With Medicaid: A Listening Tour." The tour had discussions in Lincoln, Omaha, Scottsbluff, North Platte, Hastings, South Sioux City, and Fremont.

“I want to thank everyone who came out to these sessions over the last month," Medicaid Director Kevin Bagley, DHA, FACHE said. “It's vital for our team to get this engagement and feedback from our stakeholders to make sure we're serving the state of Nebraska the best we can."

The tour focused on updates to the Medicaid program, primarily the new managed care contracts with Molina Healthcare, Nebraska Total Care, and UnitedHealthcare, as well as the changes that are set to come in 2024. Other updates included the addition of coverage for continuous glucose monitoring devices and the release of a strategic plan to outline key initiatives.

After a presentation of the updates, members of the public were able to ask questions and give feedback on the Medicaid program. Additionally, representatives from the new health plans attended several of the meetings and were able to answer questions from those in attendance.

“Over the course of the tour, we received a variety of questions from both providers and members," Bagley said. “We heard a lot of excitement about upcoming changes, and a lot of desire for continued collaboration."

Nebraska Medicaid plans to continue the listening sessions on a biannual basis, with the next sessions tentatively scheduled for early next year in the spring.