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Medicaid work rules are now live. Here is what that means.
On May 1, 2026, Nebraska became the first state in the country to enforce Medicaid work requirements under the federal reconciliation law.
Here is the core rule: able-bodied adults ages 19 to 64 on Medicaid expansion must now document at least 80 hours per month of qualifying activity, including paid work, school, job training, or volunteering. If they cannot prove it, they risk disenrollment.
On paper, most of these adults already qualify. KFF estimates roughly 65% of expansion adults without dependent children already work 80 or more hours per month.
So why is this still a major problem?
Because the coverage losses are not going to come from people who do not work. They are going to come from people who cannot navigate the paperwork.
Historical data from Arkansas, the only other state to implement work requirements before they were struck down in 2019, tells a clear story. Tens of thousands lost coverage. Employment rates did not meaningfully change. Most of those who were disenrolled were actually working, they just could not document it correctly.
KFF now projects that national Medicaid work requirements, rolling out state by state through 2027, could leave 7.5 million more Americans uninsured by 2034. Of that, 5.3 million would be directly attributable to work requirement disenrollments.
For FQHCs and safety-net providers, this is not a distant policy debate. It is an operational reality arriving right now.
Patients who lose Medicaid do not disappear. They show up at community health centers, urgent care clinics, and emergency rooms, uninsured, with more advanced illness, and less ability to pay.
The administrative burden also lands on providers. Enrollment counselors, front-desk staff, and care navigators will be asked to help patients document hours, apply for exemptions, and appeal denials, often without additional resources to do it.
CMS is also phasing in enforcement in Montana in July 2026, Iowa in December 2026, and additional states through 2027.
The question every FQHC and clinic leader should be asking right now is simple: are we ready for the wave of uninsured patients this policy is going to create?
Because the data strongly suggests it is coming, and the communities most affected are exactly the ones our safety-net system was built to serve.
♻️ Repost if Medicaid paperwork should never be the reason someone loses their health coverage.
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Author:
Jonathan Govette is a seasoned healthcare and technology executive with more than two decades of experience building, scaling, and advising digital health companies. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Oatmeal Health, an AI-driven Lung Cancer Screening and Diagnostics company focused on expanding access to early detection for underrepresented populations, particularly patients served by Federally Qualified Health Centers and value-based health plans.
With a background in engineering, product development, and strategic partnerships, Jonathan has founded and led multiple health technology ventures across clinical care delivery, regulated medical software, and AI-enabled diagnostics. His work sits at the intersection of medicine, technology, and health equity, with a consistent focus on translating complex clinical problems into scalable, real-world solutions.
Jonathan has spent much of his professional life dedicated to improving outcomes for marginalized and underserved communities. He has designed and implemented frameworks that align clinical quality, reimbursement, and technology to sustainably advance health equity at scale. This mission is deeply personal and informs his leadership philosophy and long-term vision for healthcare transformation.
In addition to his operating experience, Jonathan is an author and long-time writer in the healthcare domain, with over 20 years of published work covering digital health, medical innovation, and healthcare systems. He is a frequent mentor to early-stage founders and regularly advises startups on product strategy, partnerships, and go-to-market execution in regulated healthcare environments.
Before entering industry full-time, Jonathan nearly pursued a career in medicine with an early path toward cardiothoracic surgery, an experience that continues to shape his clinical perspective and respect for frontline care delivery.
CEO | Oatmeal Health | AI Lung Cancer Startup | Engineer | Writer | Almost Became a Doctor (Cardiac Thoracic Surgeon) | 3x Health Tech Founder | Startup Mentor | Follow to share what I’ve learned along the way.
