Medicaid Mixup

Howdy!

I have a predicament that is stressing me out so I wanted to know if anyone has a similar issue and how it was resolved or knows the answer.

I’m in college and my sophomore year 2023 I applied for Medicaid to work as my secondary insurance to cover any out-of-pocket cost for care. I worked, but it was under the threshold for Medicaid guidelines, and in November 2024 I was deemed eligible for 2025 after my interview. I provided all of my paycheck stubs and everything they asked of me so I thought I was good. Just knew I was borderline due to my income but I listened to the caseworker because it was his job.

Then in November 2025, my coverage stopped working before it was time for my renewal so I called and apparently the caseworker in 2024 fudged some numbers or did something wrong and I actually wasn’t eligible back then. Even though I continued going to the doctor through 2025. So now Medicaid is reversing all the claims back to the providers and they are going to come for me for payment very soon. I already see they have reopened the accounts from last year in MyChart already.

As I’m still in college and have no plan on how to pay these back. What should I do? I have two bills for single services that were above $500 that I plan to negotiate or pay because those could go on my credit report but all of the ones below $500 will I be OK with letting them go to collections?

I’m a broke college student that pays their taxes and a very hefty tuition out-of-pocket, so I don’t have that kind of money just sitting around????

Location: Missouri