An Omaha Man With Kidney Cancer Was Told He Lost Medicaid. The State Says He Aged Out.

Eli McCreary of Omaha, Nebraska, said he had recently been diagnosed with kidney cancer when a local CHI Health hospital told him he was no longer insured under Medicaid and would have his appointments cancelled unless he paid out of pocket, NPR reported, in a story from KFF Health News. McCreary, who was 64 at the time, said a call center told him the program now required him to have a job. "You're required to do work to stay on," he recalled being told. "And you haven't fulfilled your work requirement." He has diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and he said he has battled drug addiction for decades. "I don't understand what job I can get," he said. "I can't walk. I can hardly breathe. I can't move around. What job am I going to get?"

Nebraska launched Medicaid work requirements on May 1, determined to be the first state to enforce the rules under President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, eight months before most states are set to do the same. The rules generally require participating in work or a similar activity for 80 hours a month, unless a person qualifies for an exemption. Gov. Jim Pillen said in December that the state appreciated the Trump administration "for delivering this key reform." Mehmet Oz, the official overseeing Medicare and Medicaid, appeared by video. Democrats, with newly elected majorities in Congress, have said they plan to repeal the Medicaid changes in their first 100 hours in office in January. It is unclear whether they would succeed; the president could veto a repeal.

Jeff Powell, a spokesperson for Nebraska's Department of Health and Human Services, said there were "no lapses in coverage" and that McCreary was disenrolled from Medicaid after turning 65. Despite what McCreary said he was told, Powell said work requirements were not the reason: he aged out of Medicaid and into Medicare before they could be applied to him. Advocates told KFF Health News that McCreary's four-month substance-use treatment, which started in November 2025, and his other health conditions should have exempted him anyway. The federal law includes exemptions for people who are too sick to work. Taylor Miller, a CHI Health spokesperson, declined to answer questions about his case and said the system is committed to helping patients understand coverage and financial assistance.

McCreary said he cancelled a CT scan and other tests and delayed a cancer appointment with a visiting physician, missing a month-long window. He is now enrolled in Medicare, and Medicaid covers some of his remaining costs. He was able to reschedule the cancelled appointments. "The cancer has grown so much," he said. He had surgery in early November to remove his right kidney. The verified record is the conflict between those two accounts: McCreary's description of a work-rule cutoff after a cancer diagnosis, and the state's statement that he aged into Medicare. His delayed scans and the later surgery are not in dispute.