Eligibility screening and Medicaid applications
We screen each patient against your state’s rules, gather the documents, and complete the application with the family in Pashto or Dari — online, by phone or on paper — then follow it to a decision.
Medicaid Eligibility and Benefits Navigation in Pashto and Dari
Afghan patient navigators and community health workers who help your patients and members apply for Medicaid, keep coverage at every renewal, and use the benefits they already have. Matched to each family’s language, dialect and gender, for hospitals, health plans, community health centers and public agencies.
In brief
Ariana Nexus runs Medicaid eligibility and benefits navigation programs in Pashto and Dari. Our patient navigators and community health workers screen Afghan patients for coverage, complete applications and renewals with them, explain every notice in their own dialect, and connect them to the care their plan covers. Institutions contract the program; families never pay.
Key facts
- Languages
- Pashto and Dari, with interpreter support in 22 more Afghan languages
- Varieties matched
- Pashto: Kandahari, Central, Nangarhari, Khosti. Dari: Kabuli, Herati, Hazaragi (a variety of Dari)
- Matching
- Language, dialect, home region and gender; health-science graduates on clinical caseloads
- Delivery
- Embedded on site, by phone and video, or both
- Contracted by
- Hospitals, Medicaid health plans, community health centers, state and county agencies, resettlement and community organizations
- Safeguards
- BAA signed before any patient information is shared; nothing recorded by default
- Cost to families
- None. Institutions fund the program
Moments that put coverage at risk
Coverage rarely ends on a quiet day. These are the moments our navigators are built for.
A letter from the state arrives
It asks for a document by a date. Navigators read it with the family, gather what is needed and send it back on time.
A renewal is due
Navigators start 60 to 90 days early, check what the state already has, and complete the rest together.
A baby is born
Newborn coverage, postpartum care and a pediatrician, set up before the family leaves the hospital.
Income or work changes
New job, lost job or fewer hours: navigators report it correctly and prepare the family for work reporting.
The family moves
A new address, or a new state with a different program. Navigators update or restart coverage without a gap.
Immigration status changes
A green card, a parole end date or a pending case can change eligibility. Navigators check coverage at each step.
A hospital stay
Uninsured at admission: navigators screen before discharge and start the application from the bedside.
Coverage is denied or ended
Navigators explain why, fix what can be fixed, and help the family ask for a hearing in time.
Why Afghan families lose Medicaid they qualify for
Most coverage is not lost at the eligibility line. It is lost in the mail: a renewal packet in English, a request for documents a family cannot read, a deadline that passes before anyone at home understands it. At the end of the 2023–24 unwinding, nearly seven in ten people removed from Medicaid had lost coverage for procedural reasons.
For Afghan patients the gap is wider. Many families were displaced by the war in Afghanistan and arrived after the 2021 evacuation; their immigration statuses are now treated differently under the 2025 law, and six-month renewals and work reporting begin in 2027. An interpreter carries the words. A navigator carries the case to a decision.
69%
of people removed from Medicaid during the 2023–24 unwinding lost coverage for paperwork or procedural reasons, not because they were found ineligible.
KFF Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker, 2024$2.47
returned to Medicaid for every dollar invested in a community health worker program, measured in a randomized trial.
Kangovi et al., Health Affairs, 20206 months
how often most Medicaid expansion adults must renew, starting with renewals on or after January 1, 2027.
CMS, State Medicaid Director Letter #26-001, 2026What changes for Afghan families in 2026 and 2027
The 2025 reconciliation law — Public Law 119-21, known as H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and in CMS guidance as the Working Families Tax Cut legislation — changes who qualifies for coverage and how often people must prove it. A separate immigration rule changes how families weigh that coverage. The dates below are federal; states add their own rules and timelines.
SNAP and new Medicare enrollment narrowed
SNAP is limited to citizens, green card holders, Cuban and Haitian entrants and COFA citizens; refugees, asylees and parolees no longer qualify by that status. New Medicare enrollment follows the same narrower list.P.L. 119-21 §§ 10108, 71201; USDA FNSMarketplace help ends below the poverty line
Lawfully present immigrants below 100% of the poverty level who cannot get Medicaid because of their status can no longer receive Marketplace premium tax credits.P.L. 119-21 § 71302The public charge test widens
For green card applications filed from this date, immigration officers may weigh a wider range of benefits, including Medicaid. Refugees, asylees and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders are exempt by law, and green card holders applying for citizenship are not tested. No family should drop coverage before getting legal advice.DHS final rule, July 20, 2026; USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 8, Part GFederal Medicaid and CHIP narrowed
Full federal Medicaid and CHIP are limited to green card holders who meet the usual waiting-period rules, Cuban and Haitian entrants, COFA citizens, and lawfully residing children and pregnant people in states that cover them. Refugees, asylees and parolees without a green card, including many Afghan families, lose eligibility. States must check every other basis for coverage and send notice before ending it.P.L. 119-21 § 71109; CMS SHO #26-001Six-month renewals, work reporting, narrower subsidies
Most expansion adults renew every six months, and many adults aged 19 to 64 must show 80 hours a month of work, school, training or service unless exempt. Marketplace tax credits narrow to the green card list, and Medicare ends for current enrollees who no longer qualify.P.L. 119-21 §§ 71107, 71119, 71301; CMS-2454-IFC
Before October 1, our navigators check every family’s status and renewal date, confirm who stays eligible, including green card holders and covered children, and start the next coverage path for everyone who does not.
What our Medicaid navigators and community health workers do
Six lines of work, delivered as one program by one team.
Renewals, notices and appeals
We track renewal dates, answer every state request on time, read each notice with the family in their dialect, and help them ask for a fair hearing when a decision looks wrong.
Benefits navigation
We help families use what their plan covers — a primary care doctor, prescriptions, rides to appointments, and dental and maternity care where the state covers it — and connect them to programs they still qualify for.
Community health worker programs
Afghan community health workers visit homes, lead health education in community centers and mosques, screen for food, housing and transportation needs, and keep families connected to their care team between visits.
Coverage after October 1, 2026
For patients who lose federal Medicaid, we check state-funded programs, emergency Medicaid, hospital financial assistance and sliding-fee clinics, and keep status questions moving with the legal help your program designates.
Program design, training and reporting
We design the workflow, scripts and consent forms, train navigators on your state’s rules, and report enrollment, renewals and time to coverage every month.
Who contracts Pashto and Dari navigation
Hospitals and health systems
Screen uninsured Afghan patients in the emergency department, at admission and before discharge, and reduce uncompensated care.
Medicaid health plans
Keep Afghan members enrolled through renewals and work reporting, and help them use primary care before the emergency room.
Community health centers
Add Pashto- and Dari-speaking enrollment and outreach capacity without building a new team.
State and county agencies
Extend your duty to help people apply and renew, in person, by phone and online, to Pashto and Dari speakers.
Resettlement agencies and community organizations
Give caseworkers a health-coverage partner who speaks the family’s dialect.
Why Ariana Nexus for Medicaid navigation
A bilingual employee can translate a renewal letter. A navigator makes sure the family is still covered next month.
We set the standard where no certification exists
No U.S. credential tests Pashto or Dari for health navigation or medical interpreting, so Ariana Nexus sets the standard: every navigator is assessed in the variety they claim and trained in Medicaid, and we train Afghan diaspora interpreters and students beyond our own team.Led by scholars of leading universities
Our team includes alumni of Cornell, Brown, the University of Chicago and the University of British Columbia, trained in public health, psychology, computer science and engineering.Afghan-led and community-rooted
Our partners lived in Kabul and Herat. We know the questions families ask before they sign a form, and how to answer them in their own words.One firm, one point of accountability
Every navigator, community health worker, interpreter and trainer is our own, and our Managing Partner answers for every program. No subcontractors and no hand-offs.Built for the 2026–27 rules
Workflows already account for the September 18 public charge rule, the October 1 eligibility change, six-month renewals and work reporting.A clean document chain
BAA before the first case, nothing recorded by default, and nothing routed through channels controlled by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan.
How we deliver a navigation program
Map your population
We profile your Afghan patients or members by language, dialect, region and coverage status, and find where cases stall.Design the workflow
Referral triggers, scripts, consent and authorized-representative forms, and your state’s assister rules. A BAA is signed before any patient information moves.Match the team
Navigators are assigned by language, dialect, home region and gender, with health-science graduates on clinical caseloads.Deliver and log
Navigators work on site, by phone and video, or both, and log every case from first contact to decision.Report and hand over
Monthly reporting on applications, approvals, renewals and time to coverage, with a handover plan if you bring the program in-house.
Three ways to engage
Embedded navigators
Pashto and Dari navigators placed in your emergency department, clinics or member services, on your schedule.
Virtual navigation desk
A dedicated phone and video line for your patients or members, with scheduled calls before every renewal.
Program build
We design, staff and train your own Afghan community health worker program, then hand it over.
Languages, dialects and the matching standard
A Dari speaker from Herat and a Dari speaker from Kabul use different words for the same form. We match the family, not just the language.
پښتو
Pashto
Varieties matched
Kandahari, Central, Nangarhari and Khosti
Kandahari, Central, Nangarhari and Khosti
Written materials in standard Afghan Pashto.
دری
Dari
Varieties matched
Kabuli, Herati and Hazaragi (a variety of Dari)
Kabuli, Herati and Hazaragi (a variety of Dari)
Written materials in Afghanistan’s Dari, never Iranian Persian.
How we match every family
Language and dialect
Matched to the variety the family speaks at home and the region they come from.Gender
A woman navigator whenever a family asks, and for maternity and reproductive care.Education
Every navigator is a college graduate; clinical caseloads go to health-science graduates who know the terms and the system.System fluency
Trained in Medicaid, managed care, the Marketplace and your state’s application and renewal rules.Trauma-informed practice
Prepared to work with families who lived through war, displacement and loss, without probing it.Privacy
No child or relative ever has to interpret; nothing is recorded by default.
Interpreter support in 22 more Afghan languages
- Hazaragi (a variety of Dari)
- Aimaq
- Balochi
- Ormuri
- Parachi
- Wakhi
- Shughni
- Sanglechi
- Ishkashimi
- Munji
- Yidgha
- Uzbeki
- Turkmeni
- Kyrgyz
- Pashayi
- Gawarbati
- Tirahi
- Nuristani (Ashkun group)
- Kati
- Prasun
- Waigali
- Brahui
Trauma-informed navigation for families affected by war
Many Afghan families carry the weight of the war in Afghanistan, the 2021 evacuation and years of separation — what clinicians call trauma, grief and moral injury, sometimes described as moral trauma, and what families rarely name. Medicaid covers mental health care, but a family has to know that, trust it, and find a provider who speaks their language. Our navigators explain behavioral health benefits without stigma and connect patients to Pashto- and Dari-speaking care, working alongside our trauma-informed interpreters where none exists.
Navigators are not clinicians. If someone is in crisis, we connect them to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and to your clinical team at once.
The team behind this service
Ariana Nexus is a consulting and professional services firm in Washington, D.C. Its Managing Partner oversees the firm’s operations and every program; its healthcare practice designs and delivers each one.
Program oversight
- B.S.,Cornell University
- M.P.H.,Cornell University
Hassan Ukasha
Managing Partner
Oversees Ariana Nexus operations and every navigation program: contracting, compliance, quality review and reporting to your leadership. Your partner-level point of accountability. Grew up in Herat.
Healthcare practice
- B.Sc.,University of British Columbia
- ,
Zeba Haqbani
Senior Partner
Builds the case-logging, reporting and AI systems behind every program. Lived in Kabul.
- B.S.,Cornell University
- M.P.H.,Cornell University
Tamana Ghaznawi
Senior Partner
Leads the healthcare practice and signs off every program design with hospital and health plan partners. Lived in Kabul.
- B.S.,Brown University
- M.P.H.,Brown University
Shukria Sakhi
Engagement Manager
Manages program delivery for public agencies and community health partners, from population mapping to monthly reporting.
- B.A.,Cornell University
- Psy.D.,West Chester University
Diana Ayubi
Engagement Manager
Shapes trauma-informed practice and the behavioral health pathway for families. Lived in Kabul.
The navigation bench
Program leaders are supported by Pashto- and Dari-speaking navigators and community health workers from the Afghan community: college graduates, assessed in their own dialect, trained in Medicaid, and supervised by the healthcare practice.
The rules this program works within
| Rule | What it requires | How we meet it |
|---|---|---|
| Rule42 CFR 435.908 | What it requiresState Medicaid agencies must help people apply and renew in person, by phone and online, including people with limited English proficiency. Certified assisters may not take payment from applicants. | How we meet itThat help is delivered in Pashto and Dari, and families are never charged. |
| Rule45 CFR 92.201 (Section 1557) | What it requiresCovered health programs must offer qualified interpreters and translators, free of charge, to people with limited English proficiency. | How we meet itNavigators work in the family’s language; our interpreters cover 22 more Afghan languages. |
| RuleP.L. 119-21, § 71109 | What it requiresFrom October 1, 2026, full federal Medicaid and CHIP are limited to green card holders and a few other groups. | How we meet itEvery case is checked for status, other bases of eligibility and the next coverage path. |
| RuleP.L. 119-21, §§ 71107 and 71119 | What it requiresSix-month renewals and 80 hours a month of community engagement for most expansion adults from January 1, 2027. | How we meet itRenewal calendars, exemption screening and reporting help are built into the workflow. |
| RuleHIPAA, 45 CFR 164.504(e) | What it requiresBusiness associates must sign an agreement before handling protected health information. | How we meet itBAA signed before the first case; nothing recorded by default. |
How institutions pay for navigation
More of this work is fundable than most teams expect. Confirm each path with your billing and compliance leads.
State Medicaid CHW benefits
More than half of state Medicaid programs now pay for community health worker services in some form.Milbank Memorial Fund, 2025Medicare navigation codes
Since 2024, Medicare pays for community health integration (G0019, G0022) and principal illness navigation (G0023, G0024) under a billing practitioner; navigation services include a patient’s cultural and linguistic needs.CMS Physician Fee Schedule, 2024–2026Health plan investment
Medicaid health plans fund navigators to keep eligible members enrolled and steer care to primary care.NASHP state CHW policy scan, 2025Hospital community benefit
Enrollment help for uninsured patients reduces uncompensated care and may count toward a nonprofit hospital’s community benefit.Confirm with your tax advisor
What we measure
- Applications submitted and approved
- Days from referral to coverage
- Renewals completed on time
- Procedural terminations
- Primary care visits within 90 days of coverage
- Family-reported understanding, asked in Pashto or Dari
For patients and families
Our navigation programs run inside hospitals, clinics and health plans. Ask your clinic whether it offers Pashto or Dari navigation. To apply now, contact your state Medicaid agency or find free local help at localhelp.healthcare.gov, and ask for a free Pashto or Dari interpreter. In a mental health crisis, call or text 988. In an emergency, call 911.
د ناروغانو او کورنیو لپاره
زموږ د لارښوونې پروګرامونه د روغتونونو، کلینیکونو او روغتیايي بیمې شرکتونو دننه کار کوي. له خپل کلینیک څخه وپوښتئ چې ایا په پښتو ژبه مرسته لري. که همدا اوس غوښتنلیک ورکوئ، د خپل ایالت له میډیکېډ ادارې سره اړیکه ونیسئ او وړیا پښتو ترجمان وغواړئ. د رواني روغتیا د بحران لپاره ۹۸۸ ته زنګ ووهئ یا پیغام ولیږئ. په بیړني حالت کې ۹۱۱ ته زنګ ووهئ.
برای بیماران و خانوادهها
برنامههای رهنمایی ما در داخل شفاخانهها، کلینیکها و شرکتهای بیمهٔ صحی اجرا میشوند. از کلینیک خود بپرسید که آیا به زبان دری کمک میکند. اگر همین حالا میخواهید درخواست بدهید، با ادارهٔ مدیکید ایالت خود تماس بگیرید و یک ترجمان رایگان دری بخواهید. برای بحران صحت روان به ۹۸۸ زنگ بزنید یا پیام بفرستید. در حالت عاجل به ۹۱۱ زنگ بزنید.
How families search, in their own words
How do I get Medicaid? · My Medicaid was stopped. What do I do? · Medicaid renewal form
- میډیکېډ څنګه واخلم؟
- زما میډیکېډ بند شو، څه وکړم؟
- د میډیکېډ د تمدید فورمه
- چطور مدیکید بگیرم؟
- مدیکید من قطع شد، چه کنم؟
- فورم تمدید مدیکید
Words families will hear
| English | دری | پښتو |
|---|---|---|
| EnglishMedicaid | دریمدیکید | پښتومیډیکېډ |
| EnglishRenewal | دریتمدید | پښتوتمدید |
| EnglishEligibility | دریواجد شرایط بودن | پښتووړتیا |
| EnglishHealth insurance | دریبیمهٔ صحی | پښتوروغتیايي بیمه |
| EnglishNotice from the state | دریاطلاعیه | پښتوخبرتیا |
| EnglishPatient navigator | دریرهنمای بیمار | پښتود ناروغ لارښود |
| EnglishCommunity health worker | دریکارکن صحی جامعه | پښتوټولنیز روغتیايي کارکوونکی |
| EnglishInterpreter | دریترجمان | پښتوترجمان |
Frequently asked questions
Answers reflect federal rules as written. States add their own rules; eligibility decisions are made by state Medicaid agencies.
What is a Medicaid navigator?
A Medicaid navigator helps people apply for Medicaid, answer state requests, renew on time and use their benefits. Ariana Nexus navigators do this in Pashto and Dari for Afghan patients, inside hospitals, health plans, community health centers and public agencies.
What is the difference between a patient navigator and a community health worker?
A patient navigator guides a patient through coverage and care: applications, renewals, notices and appointments. A community health worker does some of the same work but mainly in the community, through home visits, health education and screening for needs like food or housing. Many programs use both.
Do you provide Pashto- and Dari-speaking Medicaid navigators?
Yes. Ariana Nexus provides Pashto- and Dari-speaking navigators and community health workers, matched by dialect, home region and gender, with interpreter support in 22 more Afghan languages.
Can Afghan refugees and parolees still get Medicaid after October 1, 2026?
Only some. From October 1, 2026, full federal Medicaid is limited to green card holders, Cuban and Haitian entrants and COFA citizens, plus lawfully residing children and pregnant people in states that cover them. Afghan refugees, asylees and parolees without a green card lose federal eligibility, and states must check other bases for coverage and send notice first. Afghans who hold a green card after arriving as refugees or Special Immigrant Visa holders, and many evacuees paroled after 2021, are generally exempt from the five-year waiting period and can stay eligible if they meet the other rules. Some states also fund their own coverage.
Will using Medicaid hurt a family’s immigration case?
It depends on the case, and navigators do not give immigration legal advice. From September 18, 2026, officers deciding many family- and employment-based green card applications may consider a wider range of benefits, including Medicaid. Refugees, asylees and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders are exempt from the public charge test by law, and green card holders applying for citizenship are not tested. We connect families to the legal help your program designates before anyone drops coverage.
When do six-month Medicaid renewals and work requirements start?
For most adults in the Medicaid expansion group, renewals move to every six months starting with renewals on or after January 1, 2027, and many adults aged 19 to 64 must show 80 hours a month of work, school, training or community service unless exempt. States may start earlier, and some already have.
Who pays for Pashto and Dari Medicaid navigation?
The hospital, health plan, health center or agency that contracts the program. Families are never charged for application or renewal help.
Can you help patients who lose Medicaid?
Yes. We check state-funded programs, emergency Medicaid, hospital financial assistance and sliding-fee clinics, and keep status questions moving with the legal help your program designates. Navigators do not give immigration legal advice.
Do you match navigators by gender and dialect?
Yes. Families can ask for a woman or a man, and we match the variety they speak at home, such as Kandahari or Central Pashto, or Kabuli, Herati or Hazaragi Dari.
Are your navigators certified?
No U.S. credential tests Pashto or Dari for health navigation or medical interpreting, so Ariana Nexus sets the standard: we assess every navigator in the variety they claim, train them on Medicaid and your state’s rules, and train Afghan diaspora interpreters and students beyond our own team. Where your state certifies community health workers or application counselors, we build the program to that requirement.
Do your navigators work on site or remotely?
Both. Navigators can be embedded in your emergency department, clinics or member services, work by phone and video, or combine the two.
How do you protect patient information?
We sign a business associate agreement before any patient information is shared, record nothing by default, and never route documents through channels controlled by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan.
Who oversees a navigation program?
An engagement manager from our healthcare practice runs day-to-day delivery, a senior partner signs off the program design, and Hassan Ukasha, Managing Partner, oversees operations and every program. Your leadership has a partner-level point of accountability from the first day.
Can Medicaid pay for community health workers?
In many states, yes. More than half of state Medicaid programs pay for community health worker services in some form, and Medicare pays for community health integration and principal illness navigation under a billing practitioner.
Is Ariana Nexus a government agency?
No. Ariana Nexus is a private consulting and professional services firm. Eligibility decisions are made by state Medicaid agencies.
Scope a Pashto and Dari navigation program
Tell us your population, your state and your timeline. We sign your NDA and BAA before any patient information is shared.
Request a scoping callSAM.gov registered. UEI M2UDMUDFXGL9. CAGE 1Z3A3.