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Recent posts by Jordan Rasmussen

Rural Nebraska’s stake in Medicaid expansion

By Jordan Rasmussen on October 17, 2018 - 12:13pm

Rural Nebraskans are at distinct disadvantage in their ability to access health care coverage. Combined with the limited availability of health care providers and facilities, this disadvantage grows as consideration is given to the socioeconomics of health care access. Rural populations are older, have fewer financial resources and have more health concerns than the general population.

Nebraska's uninsured and the coverage gap by legislative district

The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2016 American Community Survey (ACS) estimates that about 180,000 Nebraskans are without health insurance, and about 105,000 of them are employed. This map includes ACS’s five-year estimate of the number of Nebraskans falling into the coverage gap, as well as estimated percentages of working age population without health coverage and those who are employed without coverage. 

File attachments: 

PDF icon NE Uninsured Coverage Gap BY DISTRICT.pdf

Nebraska's uninsured and the coverage gap by county

The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2016 American Community Survey (ACS) estimates that about 180,000 Nebraskans are without health insurance, and about 105,000 of them are employed. This map includes ACS’s five-year estimate of the number of Nebraskans falling into the coverage gap, as well as estimated percentages of working age population without health coverage and those who are employed without coverage. 

File attachments: 

PDF icon NE Uninsured Coverage Gap BY COUNTY.pdf

Rural voters help carry Medicaid expansion to the ballot

By Jordan Rasmussen on October 4, 2018 - 11:32am

Nebraska is set to be the fourth state in the nation where Medicaid expansion will appear on the November ballot. This comes following months of signature collection and validation, and the dismissal of a lawsuit against the initiative. The state joins Idaho, Utah, and Montana (where expansion will sunset) in allowing voters to decide on the future of health care coverage access for thousands of their neighbors. If passed in all four states, an estimated half-million low income residents would gain coverage.

Petition drive underway to expand Medicaid

By Jordan Rasmussen on June 29, 2018 - 4:00pm

Nebraska is seeking to join 32 other states and the District of Columbia in expanding Medicaid. A petition drive is underway to pose the question to voters in the November general election.

The Midwest state is following Maine’s lead. In November 2017, Maine was the first state to expand Medicaid by ballot box, passing with 59 percent approval. The circumstances surrounding Maine’s referendum mirror concerns in Nebraska with similar rural and aging populations and ardent opposition to expansion from the executive branch.

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