Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Nebraska program

Free health insurance for your child (Nebraska Medicaid)

Nebraska’s free health insurance for children under 19. Your child can have it alongside work insurance.

What it is

Nebraska’s free health insurance for children under 19. Your child can have it alongside work insurance.

Nebraska Medicaid covers children whose household income meets the rules for their age. Work insurance does not block it. DHHS decides who counts in your child’s household and which income counts.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child must live in Nebraska and be under 19. A cancer diagnosis is not required.
  • DHHS uses your child’s tax household and current monthly income. A yearly amount divided by 12 is only an estimate.
  • The January 1, 2026 base limits for four people are $4,455 a month under age 1, $3,988 at ages 1–5 and $3,658 at ages 6–18. For three people at ages 6–18, the base is $3,029.
  • The published base percentages are 162%, 145% and 133% of poverty for those three age bands.
  • If your income is just over the line, DHHS adds an allowance of 5% of the poverty level before deciding, so a family slightly over can still qualify.
  • Your child's own immigration status is checked, not yours. A child without an eligible status can still get emergency care covered; ask the financial counselor for a confidential check.
What you get
  • No premium or child copays for covered hospital care, chemotherapy, medicines and tests.
  • Dental and vision care, and rides to covered appointments.
  • Nursing and personal care at home when your child’s needs meet the rules.
  • Earlier eligible medical bills can be covered.
What the help covers
  • Health Check is Nebraska’s child screening and treatment benefit through age 20. It covers medically necessary services within Medicaid benefit categories, rather than every requested service.
  • Home nursing needs its own clinical review. Approval for health insurance alone does not establish nursing hours.
  • When your child has private insurance and Medicaid, the private plan is billed first. For Medicaid-covered care that meets authorization and provider-enrollment rules, the provider cannot pass the private deductible, coinsurance or copay to you simply because Medicaid pays little or nothing more. Noncovered care, an established share of cost and other specific exceptions need a separate billing review.
  • Worked example: the work plan allows $5,000, pays $1,600 and lists $3,400 as your share. Medicaid's own rate is $1,500, so it pays nothing extra. The clinic writes off the $3,400 and you owe $0.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the hospital’s financial counselor to help with the iServe application, or use iServe yourself.
  2. Have your child’s ID, Social Security number, Nebraska address, current income, insurance cards and earlier bills ready.
  3. Ask the counselor whether the hospital offers temporary Medicaid while DHHS reviews the application.

Nebraska DHHS decides; one of three Heritage Health plans (Molina, Nebraska Total Care, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan) then runs the coverage · 855-632-7633 · Official page ↗

After you apply
  • An approval notice gives your child’s coverage dates and Heritage Health plan choices: Molina, Nebraska Total Care or UnitedHealthcare Community Plan.
  • Children receive 12 months of continuous eligibility, subject to program exceptions.
  • For applications through 2026, eligible bills from up to three months before the application month can be covered. Eligibility is checked separately for each month. The federal change reduces this to two months for children applying from January 1, 2027; DHHS can confirm how it applies to your application.
  • Medicaid application decisions generally have a 45-day federal limit, or 90 days when a disability decision is needed, with limited documented exceptions. A participating hospital can check whether temporary hospital presumptive eligibility is available while a full application is considered; the hospital financial counselor or DHHS can explain the dates and required next steps.
Good to know

Work insurance pays first. The exact Heritage Health plan still needs to cover your child’s hospital, cancer team and medicines.

Other details
  • Keeping both plans keeps the work plan's doctors, at the cost of the premium and two insurers to manage. If the health plan says no to something, you have 60 days to appeal; to keep a service running meanwhile, ask within 10 days of the notice.
  • Before changing coverage, compare the exact cancer team, hospital, pharmacy and planned care under both plans. Removing one child may not reduce a family premium.
  • HIPP can review whether Nebraska will reimburse a private premium after Medicaid eligibility is established.

Federal background: Medicaid · Medicaid with private insurance · Health Check (EPSDT).

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could Medicaid help with our child’s treatment bills, including alongside other insurance? What would keeping both plans involve, and could you help us decide whether to apply?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand the covered costs, the cancer team’s network and what a second insurance card would mean.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

File on iServe today with this month's income and any insurance you have. Name the months that already have bills, and pick a plan the oncology group takes.

Your social worker

The oncology social worker or financial counsellor helps you file and asks whether the hospital can open temporary coverage that day.

The care team

Nothing for ordinary child Medicaid. Medical records are only needed for the Katie Beckett category.

Who decides
Nebraska DHHS checks the income and the household. The Heritage Health plan you choose then runs the coverage.
Ask your social worker
“Can you help me file on iServe today and ask whether this hospital can open temporary Medicaid while we wait? Can we list the bills from the last three months?”

How to apply

First step: Apply at iserve.nebraska.gov or call 855-632-7633 this week, and ask the hospital counsellor today about temporary coverage.

  1. Apply on iServe this week and ask the hospital counsellor about temporary coverage today.
  2. List every month that already has bills so the three-month look-back covers the admission.
  3. Pick the Heritage Health plan the hospital and the oncology group both take.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Apply at iserve.nebraska.gov or call 855-632-7633. Ask the hospital's financial counsellor the same day whether they can open temporary coverage for you.

What to gather

  • Child's birth certificate or ID and Social Security number
  • Nebraska address
  • This month's income for each parent in the tax household
  • Insurance cards, if any
  • Hospital bills from the three months before you apply

How long: Nebraska publishes no current decision deadline, so ask the worker for a date in writing. Once approved, coverage reaches back up to three months before the month you applied.

What a yes looks like

A notice with coverage dates and a choice of Heritage Health plan. Check the hospital and the oncology group are in that plan before you choose. Twelve months of coverage follows.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Read whether the office said no on income, a document or a category. If it is income, ask for Katie Beckett by name and appeal by the date on the notice.

Watch out

  • Nebraska counts the tax household and this month's income, not last year's return.
  • Your child can keep private insurance and have this too. Do not cancel the work plan to apply.
  • If the office says the income is too high, ask about Katie Beckett by name: it leaves the parents' income out.

Dates that change this

2026-01-01: The income figures come from the chart effective January 1, 2026. Nebraska publishes no rule about when the next one lands, so ask whether a newer chart applies.

2027-01-01: Coverage reaches back up to three months before the application month now; federal law cuts that to two months for applications made on or after January 1, 2027, and Nebraska has published nothing about how it will apply that.

2026-10-01: From October 1, 2026 Nebraska says listed lawfully present children keep coverage if they meet the other rules. There is no verified state-funded programme covering children of every immigration status. Ask the office how it applies to your child. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Full Nebraska Medicaid with no premium and no child copays. For four people the base limits are $4,455 under age 1, $3,988 at ages 1 to 5 and $3,658 at ages 6 to 18.

  • $3,658/month — Ages 6 to 18, household of 4, published base cell
  • $3,988/month — Ages 1 to 5, household of 4, published base cell
  • $4,455/month — Under age 1, household of 4, published base cell
  • $3,029/month — Ages 6 to 18, household of 3, published base cell
  • $12 — Months of continuous coverage once approved

Covers: Hospital and clinic care · Chemotherapy and prescriptions · Health Check: anything medically necessary for a child through age 20 · Nursing and personal care at home when the plan approves it · Rides to appointments · Dental and vision

What it costs the family: No premium. No copays for a child.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
under 19
Age max exclusive
19
Income
MAGI budget group; published base lines of 162% under age 1, 145% at ages 1 to 5 and 133% at ages 6 to 18. No child +5% disregard cells are published.
Insurance status condition
none: a parent's private insurance does not disqualify the child, and Nebraska Medicaid pays second
Residency
Nebraska
Continuous eligibility
12 months
Retroactive months
3 now; 2 from 2027-01-01
Processing standard
unknown: a current Nebraska promptness standard was not published

Decisions this site cannot make: DHHS eligibility determination on the iServe application · Hospital presumptive eligibility (children are included; the participating-hospital roster is unpublished)

Expect friction on: Choosing among three statewide Heritage Health plans and checking the oncology group is in the one you pick

The trap: Nebraska counts the tax household and this month's income, not last year's return. The chart prints base percentages with no separate allowance column, so if you are a little over, apply and let the office work it out. Do not cancel private insurance to apply.

Where I read this

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