The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services is seeking a temporary high-unemployment exemption to waive the new medicaid work requirements in Dawson County because of the high-unemployment rate caused by the closing of the Tyson Food processing plant in Lexington that closed in January. Governor Jim Pillen asked the department to request the waiver because the county has an unemployment rate of 19.9 percent.
Pillen said the exemption can be sought if a county’s unemployment rate exceeds 8% or at least 1.5 the national average which stands at 4.3%. Nebraska’s unemployment rate is currently at 3%.
If the state’s request is approved, Medicaid recipients in Dawson County would not need to meet the federally mandated work requirement to keep or get Medicaid.
