Lets Medicaid.com expire, now in private hands — Oops…U.S. Government

Domain expired in January and wasn’t renewed despite plenty of warning.

The official site for Medicaid, the U.S. health program for lower income families and individuals, is Medicaid.gov.

But you can bet many people looking for information regarding the program type in Medicaid.com instead of .gov. Up until January 29th, the U.S. government helpfully forwarded Medicaid.com to Medicaid.gov…

Then it let the domain expire.

Last month Tennessee firm Medx Publishing Inc, which also owns the domain name Medicare.com, purchased the domain name.

Between January 29th and March 22, the approximate date when Medx became owner, the government had plenty of warning to renew the domain, thanks to domain investor Josh Pelissero.

Pelissero contacted the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the entity that manages the programs a the federal level, and inquired if the domain was for sale since it hadn’t been renewed yet.

Sorry, he was told. The feds don’t sell domains.

Pelissero persisted, but was repeatedly told ‘no’.

“You realize,” he informed them, “that if you just let it expire then someone else will register the domain and you won’t get any money.”

Finally he got word that the domain would be renewed.

Except it never was.

On or shortly ahead of March 22, the domain was transferred to Medx. The domain doesn’t appear to have been auctioned on NameJet.

Medx Publishing Inc. confirmed to Reglike that it had purchased the domain name and was in the process of figuring out its plans for the domain. The firm’s Medicare.com domain has a lead gen form for health coverage, general Medicare information, and ads.

Pelissero has since heard from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that the renewal didn’t occur due to what was essentially a bureaucratic delay.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has not responded to an emailed request from Reglike.