Medicaid Work Requirements: How Aambé™ Health Helps Tribes Avoid Coverage Gaps

“I filled out the forms, mailed them in, and still got dropped.”

“I was on hold all day and never talked to a real person.”

“My child went six months without coverage because the paperwork got lost.”

If any of that sounds familiar, you are not alone. During Medicaid’s “unwinding” in 2023, thousands of Native families went through this exact nightmare. People did everything right, filled out the forms, made the calls, followed the rules, and still lost coverage. For many, it meant months without insurance, trips to the ER without coverage, and constant stress.

Now, with new federal Medicaid work and eligibility requirements coming, tribal leaders are worried those same problems will hit again, only harder. Yes, Native Americans are supposed to be exempt from the work rules. But anyone who has lived through the system knows exemptions on paper do not always work out in practice.

That is where Aambé™ Health could have made all the difference and still can.

What Could Have Been Different

Here is what our team brings to the table:

Hands On Help With Paperwork - Instead of forms getting lost in the shuffle, our staff become authorized representatives for patients. Paperwork comes to us first so we make sure it is correct, complete, and submitted on time.

No More Endless Call Center Holds - When patients get stuck, we step in and deal with the state directly. You do not waste days on hold or worry about getting dropped from the system because of someone else’s mistake.

Real Time Tracking - We monitor renewals and redeterminations before coverage gets cut. No more surprises in the mail saying you are dropped.

Advocacy That Works - State systems are complex and error prone. We do not just point people back to the system. We advocate until they are back on Medicaid or CHIP with proof in hand.

Why It Is Not Too Late

As highlighted in recent reporting from ICT and KFF Health News, many Native families lost coverage during Medicaid’s unwinding in 2023… The unwinding may be over, but new rules are coming fast. States will soon recheck eligibility twice as often. More red tape means more chances for Native families to lose coverage even when they are fully eligible.

If tribes partner with Aambé™ Health now, we can:

• Build systems that catch problems before they snowball• Train staff to serve as advocates, not just paper pushers• Protect Medicaid dollars that keep tribal clinics open, staffed, and serving

Final Word

No Native family should lose coverage because of government mistakes. No parent should wait six months while their child goes uninsured. And no tribe should lose critical Medicaid funding because of bad state processes.

Aambé™ Health is here to help. It is not too late to protect your people, your funding, and your future.

Contact us today to make sure your community does not get caught in the same trap again.

Contact Us

Credit: Original reporting by ICT and KFF Health News. Read the full article here.