Medicaid

Missouri lawmakers heard testimony urging them to remove an anti-abortion provision from legislation seeking to extend postpartum coverage.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government prevented states from kicking people off MO HealthNet, Missouri's Medicaid health insurance program. That provision ends April 1, and state residents will once more need to prove their eligibility for the low-cost coverage.

Under the legislation, those who receive benefits from Medicaid during pregnancy would be able to keep them for one full-year post birth. But the program can only begin after nearly 5,000 other people are kicked off Medicaid.

In the year after Missouri expanded Medicaid, the state struggled to sign up people for the government-funded health insurance program. Now, more than 1 million Missourians are enrolled. The federal government barred states from kicking anyone off Medicaid during the coronavirus pandemic. But when those protections expire this spring, patients will need to renew their coverage. Advocates and health officials worry that eligible people could drop off the rolls.

Missouri has the 8th highest maternal deaths in the country. Pre-filed bill would extend postpartum care for low-income women.

Since 2015, Centene has given more than $26 million to state political campaigns, including in places where it is wooing Medicaid contracts and settling accusations of overbilling taxpayers.

A federal emergency declaration that has allowed children to receive continuous Medicaid coverage throughout the pandemic could end soon, and health providers are worried.

Centene Corp. has agreed to pay Texas $165.6 million to resolve claims that it overcharged the state’s Medicaid program — the biggest known payout by the nation’s largest Medicaid insurer over its drug pricing practices.

State officials declared the backlog of Medicaid applications "no more" and expressed optimism they would meet a federal deadline set for the end of the month. The state's processing time had grown to 115 days, far longer than allowed under law.

Roughly four in every five Medicaid applications in Missouri took longer than 45 days to process from February to April.