Nebraskans to vote on Medicaid expansion this November

Nebraska certified a grassroots ballot initiative to expand Medicaid this November, the fourth state to push the question to voters as many red state legislatures and governors remain hostile to the idea.

Nearly 90,000 Nebraskans would be eligible for Medicaid if the initiative succeeds. Nebraska's certification follows similar measures in Utah and Idaho as well as in Montana where expansion is due to sunset in 2019 if the legislature doesn't vote to keep it.

Outside groups helped push the groundswell of support for expansion and gather nearly 85,000 signatures required for a ballot initiative. Advocates have been going on the offensive ever since last year's failed GOP attempt to ratchet back expansion funding as part of its proposed Obamacare overhaul.

Healthcare advocates touted the Nebraska news as another sign Medicaid expansion is here to stay.

"The movement to protect and expand access to healthcare is one of the most powerful forces in American politics today," said Jonathan Schleifer, executive director of the Fairness Project—a group that supported the initiative campaigns in all four states. "Voters from across the political spectrum are revolting against politicians who are standing in the way of an America where every family can see a doctor without going bankrupt."

The Fairness Project was also behind Maine's successful 2017 ballot measure to expand Medicaid. More than 60% of voters approved the initiative but GOP Gov. Paul LePage has been fighting implementation. Advocacy groups in April sued to force LePage and the health department to grant coverage, and the state Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the governor must submit a plan to implement expansion to the CMS.

But the underlying disagreement over whether LePage must technically expand the program when he and the legislature haven't yet decided where the funding will come from has yet to be resolved.