Medicaid

Religious leaders in the statewide group Missouri Faith Voices are encouraging volunteers to spread the word about the state's Medicaid expansion. They say that the state has done little to publicize the program and that much of the responsibility for educating residents has fallen on them and community organizations.

Democrats say the expansion will lower health care costs by reducing care administered at emergency rooms, while Republicans argue it will incentivize illegal immigration and overburden the state’s health system.

The Shrewsbury Democrat also discussed efforts to protect children from sex trafficking and expectations for the rest of the 2022 session.

Medicaid applicants in Missouri are facing average wait times to get their applications processed of nearly four months: well over the 45 days required by the federal government.

The pandemic has overwhelmed understaffed state Medicaid agencies, and as Biden's COVID-19 public health emergency declaration ends, low-income people could find it even harder to get coverage.

More than 650 people have been employed as community health workers in Illinois. Congress authorized $55 million for community health programs nationally during the pandemic. That funding will run out in June and neither the workers nor the communities they assist know what will happen next.

A bill heard Tuesday in a Senate committee would require Medicaid expansion clients to work or be in job training. “It would be a massive problem,” one health clinic founder testified. “We have some who still can’t read and write who came to the clinic."

Research suggests access to public health insurance can help curb recidivism. Reentry organizations in Missouri are working to enroll people in Medicaid after they leave prison to keep them from coming back.

The lawsuit follows passage of a supplemental budget bill that bars abortion providers or their affiliates from being reimbursed through Medicaid.

About 275,000 Missourians were expected to gain health care coverage in the first year, according to estimates used by the Missouri Governor's Office. But just over 62,000 people have actually signed up so far.