A new community resource is available to help Quad Cities residents and organizations navigate upcoming changes to Medicaid.
A coalition of many varied organizations unveiled a new Stay Covered Stay Healthy QC website -- www.unitedwayqc.org/healthy-qc -- during a one-hour webinar on Friday, Oct. 9.
Coalition members United Way Quad Cities, Community Health Care Inc. and Project NOW Inc. shared information about the upcoming changes and resources available to help QC residents and the organizations that serve them.
The coalition unveiled the new website today during a video call with 40-plus people (many from relevant agencies that serve this population), where representatives of the coalition were at the United Way Bettendorf offices. The new resource provides a central place residents and organizations to find information and resources related to the federal changes from last year’s H.R. 1 law.
The coalition's focus is straightforward: help people understand what is changing, know where to find information and assistance, and retain access to benefits for which they are eligible. In 2025, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the law will cut federal Medicaid spending by $911 billion over 10 years and will increase the number of people who are uninsured by 10 million in 2034.
Stay Covered Stay Healthy QC brings together more than two dozen health care agencies across the QC to coordinate resources and help the community prepare for upcoming changes to Medicaid. The coalition is focused on keeping residents informed so they can understand changes and retain access to benefits, while helping health care and community organizations prepare to support those who may be affected.
Coalition members have been working together to consider the local impact of Medicaid coverage changes, the capacity of organizations to assist with Medicaid applications and appeals, and which people served by local organizations may be most affected.
Approximately 51,000 QC residents are enrolled in Medicaid, including approximately 45,500 people under age 65, according to data reviewed by the coalition.
Capacity is top issue
“Capacity is going to be the number-one issue that we see across this community,” Ryan Sempf, United Way’s chief impact officer, said during the webinar. “We have a lot of organizations and partners, a lot of them standing next to me and beside me, that have expertise and the knowledge of how to help people through this process, signing up for Medicaid, getting benefits back,” he said Friday.
“But we know that there are going to be thousands of people impacted over the next year, and the capacity is going to be strained in our region.”
“But I know no matter what your service focus is, you're going to start hearing about this from your population,” he said. “We could not do it without everyone coming together for this. As I mentioned, if you're interested in being more involved, reach out. Let us know. We'll get you engaged whether you want to be regularly participating as a part of this coalition or if you just want more information.”
This new effort came about this past January during a One Table Quad Cities event, Sempf said later Friday. “We followed up and said, what can we do to prevent people from actually losing coverage? And so that started a lot of conversations, and in June we formally came together with more than two dozen community leaders and partners to try to develop a solution for this.”
The two biggest changes that came out of H.R. 1 for Medicaid are the requirements to work 80 hours a month or volunteer or go to school for up to 80 hours a month or any mixture of those, to retain benefits, and required recertification to occur at least every six months, as opposed to once a year, he said.
“We heard today during the discussion that more than 20,000 Quad Cities residents are a part of the Medicaid expansion population, which means they make more than the income threshold for traditional Medicaid, but they still retain access because of the Affordable Care Act,” Sempf said. “Those are the individuals that are at risk of losing their benefits. because of these changes. And prior examples from places like Arkansas and Georgia have shown up to 25% of eligible individuals have lost coverage.
“They were working, but they just could not overcome the administrative barrier of reapplying for benefits,” he said. “We are very concerned that, you know, up to 5,000 people in the Quad Cities are at very high risk of losing their Medicaid coverage, health insurance. and their ability to stay healthy.”
Because the QC spans Iowa and Illinois, residents may encounter different timelines and requirements depending on where they live and their individual Medicaid circumstances. Coalition materials identify the following implementation timelines:
- Iowa is scheduled to begin implementation Dec. 1, 2026.
- Illinois is scheduled to begin implementation Jan. 1, 2027.
For residents who are affected, understanding what is changing, what action may be required, and where to find assistance can be critical to maintaining access to coverage, Sempf said.
“People that could be impacted, if they're not working right now, those are folks that are going to need to make sure that they are joining the workforce if possible, if they're not eligible for an exemption,” he said. “If they are working, what we would encourage people is keep your pay stubs. If you're volunteering regularly, get proof of that volunteerism. So keep proof of your activities to make sure that it's as easy as possible to comply.”
Medicaid recipients can be exempt from some requirements if they meet “medical frailty” criteria, Sempf noted.
“We're going to continue to meet probably once a month to make sure that we're staying on top of any changes that come to the program. One of the things that was brought up today is medical frailty and the definition of that, which will vary by state,” he said.
“So Illinois and Iowa may have different definitions for what that is. We're going to have to keep on top of that to make sure we know how people are actually eligible for that exemption. And so it's things like that that we'll continue to update and provide insight on for individuals across the Quad Cities.”
United Way serving as uniter
It was important for United Way to host Friday’s launch event since health is one of the nonprofit’s main pillars, with education and financial security, Sempf said.
“When we talk about health, our goal is that 95% of Quad Cities residents access routine healthcare,” he said. “We know that if you don't have health insurance, the cost of care without coverage is too high to bear. This is a necessary but not necessarily a sufficient solution, but we know that people need healthcare coverage in order to access healthcare.
"So being able to bring together these partners, It really is a group effort," Sempf said. "We have more than 24 different coalition members that are a part of this effort today, and it's only by all of us coming together that we can really tackle this issue. United Way can't do it alone, but united together, we believe we can solve this.”
The coalition is also focused on helping the local organizations that serve residents prepare for an increase in questions and requests for assistance. Coalition discussions have included how organizations can build capacity to help with Medicaid applications and appeals, and coordinate information across the community.
“The dollars to pay for healthcare will have to come from somewhere else, and what we really don't want to see is that people avoid managing their, their health overall or avoid going to the doctor until it's an emergency,” Community Health Care CEO Tom Bowman said Friday.
“Because then you start to see huge impacts from, from the cost of hospitalization and other emergencies. So we have a job to do. Number one thing is to educate our patients, educate our community, provide them with resources and clear directions on how to stay compliant. And if we work together on that as a community, I think we can have a great impact.”
“This is a collaborative effort. It's been said already that our work over the last several months has been attempting to navigate, and I think we're going to continue with that language as Tom has brought to bear,” Project NOW CEO Dwight Ford said Friday.
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“How do we navigate H.R. 1 and its challenges, and the benefits or opportunities that may be buried or covered within it? That's our responsibility, to not just have a problem-focused mentality, but the idea of how do we also have a promotion of opportunity that is within it to keep people covered and to allow people the opportunity to stay healthy and their families.”
A wide-ranging coalition
The coalition includes people from the healthcare industry, mental healthcare providers, legal aid services, county health and governmental commitments, community action agencies, workforce investment boards on both sides of the river.
“We started with this idea that we're going to have a bi-state approach to this, that no state or any one of our states individually would not lead. We would share the space together,” Ford said. “And we would also have a multi-municipality involvement so that we would do our best to cast a wide net to include as many people as possible, and multidisciplinary agency approach with individuals volunteering as well.
"That sense of coming together has really helped us to understand what Dr. King would say so very often, that we're inextricably bound in a network of mutuality. What affects one directly affects all of us indirectly.”
He noted the challenges of Medicaid recipients meeting the requirement for monthly work or volunteer hours.
“Most of our nonprofits and the places where people would volunteer are already strapped. They're already challenged. They already have a lot going on. So how do we manage what we cannot impose an immediate change upon?” Ford asked.
“So we're learning how to do that. Awareness and preparation are key to us in a world that is becoming much more volatile, with its change uncertain, with the landscape complex, with our reality ambiguous. There are a lot of things that are yet to be determined, but we may have made a commitment to our broader community. If you call, we will work together to try to find a solution or get the information to you.”
“We'll do our best to get someone to your organization or a group of volunteers that want to assist so that we can keep the cascading of communication, but also keep the doors of opportunity wide for those that want to assist as well,” he said.
“We also want to broaden the way that we communicate. And so what we thought about is how do we make this information accessible and how do we get the word out in the most simplest of terms?”
“If you've been in the Quad Cities, you know that we have to approach big challenges in a big way,” Ford said. “We can't do it independently and separate from each other. Collectively is the only thing that we have at our disposal to make the maximum potential impact for the positive, long-lasting efforts that we want to see carried out through our communities.
“And so we're going to launch today, but we're also going to monitor and we're going to adjust as appropriate. We want to do our best to monitor how we are getting the communication out,” he said. “You may ask, what can I do now? Start gathering your information, update your contact information, keep an eye out for the emails or the letters that may come to your home.”
The new Stay Covered Stay Healthy QC website is designed to serve both individuals and the organizations that support them.
Residents can use the website to find information about upcoming Medicaid changes and resources that may help them understand what the changes mean for their circumstances.
Health care and community organizations can use the site as a shared resource when helping residents navigate questions about Medicaid coverage, applications and appeals.
The coalition will continue to coordinate information and resources as implementation moves forward in Iowa and Illinois.
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