Area residents who qualify for Medicaid and use the Seward County Public Transit program to get to doctor appointments may soon get a break in their out-of-pocket expenses.
The Seward County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 20 gave the Seward County Public Transit service the go-ahead to seek Medicaid provider status which would allow them to bill Medicaid for qualified users’ transportation to medical appointments.
The county must apply to the Nebraska Public Service Commission for an exemption from the filing fee charged to non-governmental agencies.
That letter also confirms the county’s vehicles can seat no more than 20 people and are capable of providing public transportation in an area not adequately served by existing public or private transportation services.
The verification by the Nebraska Public Service Commission is a means to thwart Medicaid fraud.
Brandy Hafer, who manages the county’s public transit program, said Seward County residents who use public transit to get to Lincoln doctor appointments spend about $20 per roundtrip ride.
If they are eligible for Medicaid benefits, they would not have to pay, but the county would be reimbursed $1.85 per mile by Medicaid. That would generate about $200 per Lincoln round trip depending upon their specific destination, Hafer said.
The county has not applied for Medicaid eligibility in the past, but Hafer said doing so serves both riders and the county.
She said her office receives a couple calls each month asking whether public transportation is eligible for Medicaid coverage.
But in a year in which the department is struggling through a 30 percent cut in state and federal allocations, she said the additional income will be helpful.
Also during the commissioners’ Jan. 20 meeting, they approved the Public Transit program’s updated Title VI non-discrimination plan for 2026. Hafer said the primary change was making the date 2026 where it is used. The policies remain the same.
In other action, the commissioners voted 3-0 with Board Chair Misty Ahmic and Commissioner Raegan Hain absent to accept Seward County Treasurer Jacob Zlatkovsky’s semi-annual report for publication. That report shows the revenues and disbursals from county and tax-funded accounts overseen by the treasurer’s office as of Dec. 31, 2025.
They also tabled discussion and action on the county’s noxious weed/weed report to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture for 2025 and the discussion and action related to a grant-writing contract for an application for the 2025 Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grants for the 420th Road paving project.
