Mellisa Craig: Caught in the Confusion of a Rushed Medicaid Work Reporting Requirements Rollout

Mellisa Craig is a single mother in Lincoln, Nebraska, raising her son Nash on her own while using Medicaid to keep them both healthy. For the better part of a year, she had no idea whether new work reporting requirements would take that coverage away.

Mellisa is about to turn 37, and Nash is about to turn four. “It is just him and I,” she said. Both are currently enrolled in Medicaid through Nebraska Total Care, and Mellisa recently learned they fall under the parent caregiver category. She also receives Aid to Dependent Children (ADC), Nebraska’s cash assistance program, and works with Employment First EQUIS, the program the state requires unemployed ADC recipients to participate in. Nebraska was one of the first states to implement work requirements for ADC, even before the federal work requirement changes were passed, and Mellisa said it took a lot to get a medical exemption from that program approved.

Coverage is not optional for Mellisa or her son. Nash’s pediatric wellness checks are required for him to be in school. Mellisa herself manages ongoing mental health and physical health conditions that require regular doctor’s appointments and medication, including mental health medications that would cost about $1,400 a month without Medicaid. “If I didn’t have Medicaid, my whole life would probably fall apart, and I fear that that would potentially lead to me not being able to be a mom,” she said.

Mellisa’s only income is the $394 a month she receives through ADC, plus $290 a month in food stamps for Nash. Housing assistance from a local organization, Matt Talbot, covers her rent, but she is responsible for all of her utilities. “The ADC money basically is gone before I ever see a cent,” she said. “I still fall about $200 shy a month of all of my regular bills.” She relies on friends and community organizations to fill the gaps. “I have to get creative and find ways to make it happen for us.”

For nearly a year, Mellisa followed the news about the federal work requirement changes without knowing how they would apply to her. “We’ve heard all about the big, beautiful bill and the policy changes that were being implemented, but it was very confusing, not only for me and my son, but other families like us,” she said. She felt overwhelmed by all the changes, and she had no idea whether the requirements applied to her, or what she would do if they did.

Mellisa tried to get answers from her caseworkers, but even they could not tell her what was coming. “Even the workers through DHHS when we would call, and they didn’t even really know how that was all going to play out,” she said. Her EQUIS worker did not know either. “So, I would ask her questions about what was going to happen, you know, when we would do our recertifications… but she didn’t even know,” Mellisa said. The state had just switched to a new computer system, and staff were still being trained on it. “I don’t think it necessarily was that they didn’t want to give me answers as much as they didn’t really have the answers to give anybody.”

Even after the state’s own staff came up short, Mellisa kept pushing for clarity. It wasn’t until she called DHHS with her attorney that she was able to find out she is not on Medicaid expansion and that the work requirements don’t apply to her. Without that call, she said, there was no way to know for certain — families were left waiting on hold, hoping to get through to someone at DHHS who could give them a straight answer. “So, yeah, that was a very scary process,” she said. “We already struggle month to month, and not knowing what happens next is a huge barrier on my stress level.”

Mellisa said the rushed rollout has left nothing clear, and that fear and confusion have spread even to people, like her, who turn out not to be subject to the new requirements at all. She pointed out that the impact extends well beyond her own household, touching people with disabilities and parents of young children like her, and that the confusion affects everyone regardless of which Medicaid category they fall under. Focusing on this bigger picture, she shared, “Our economies rely on people being able to access public benefits and use them to participate in our economy.” She said she has “almost begged” policymakers to consider their decisions not for her own sake, but for children across the country who don’t have a choice or a voice of their own. That’s why she keeps telling her story. “That ultimately is what our country looks like moving forward. And that’s why I do it. That’s the whole reason right there.”

Referencing the current administration’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” Mellisa asked how do we want people to view our country if not as one who takes care of its people. “How is not putting food on the table for our children aligned with that message?” she continued. Asked what message she would send to lawmakers, Mellisa returned to her son and the many children like him across the nation. “His needs are what is going to build a better tomorrow, a better America.”