LB 358 - Medicaid 25% Increase
At the beginning of December, Senator Lynne Walz’s office reached out to Matt Schaefer, our lobbyist with Mueller Robak.
Senator Walz stated that constituents (Fremont / Valley area) were having trouble finding dentists that accept Medicaid recipients. The Senator asked to meet with the NDA to discuss these issues and if there was potential for legislation. As with Medicaid, low fees are always an issue and one we could address legislatively.
In preparation for the meeting, we created a spreadsheet that compared the 2021 NDA Fee Survey fee with private insurance and the current DHHS Medicaid fees. One column allowed entering an overall percentage increase to see how that would affect the comparison to NDA Survey fees. Senator Walz asked to also see the fees from surrounding states Kansas, Iowa and South Dakota.
We informed Senator Walz that some NDA members were leaving Private Insurance 1, so any increase would have to move the percentage compared to NDA Survey fees close to Private Insurance 1 fee percentage.
That increase would equal a 25% to the current DHHS Medicaid Fees.
After that meeting, Senator Walz agreed to carry a bill requiring a 25% increase to the current DHHS Medicaid Fees.
LB 358 will be heard in front of the Health and Human Services Committee.
Please email the Senators linked below, asking for their support of LB 358.
Sen. Ben Hansen, Chairperson
District 16 (Blair, West Point)
bhansen@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Beau Ballard
District 21 (NW Lincoln, Blair, Malcom)
bballard@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh
District 6 (Central Omaha)
mcavanaugh@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Jen Day
District 49 (LaVista, Papillion)
jday@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Brian Hardin
District 48 (Scottsbluff, Gering, Kimball)
bhardin@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Merv Riepe
District 12 (SW Omaha)
mriepe@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Lynne Walz (LB 358 sponsor)
Fremont, Valley
lwalz@leg.ne.gov