Missouri

ST. LOUIS, Mo. & SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH) and KFF (the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation) have entered into a new long-term partnership to establish a KHN (Kaiser Health News) Midwest Bureau, based in St. Louis, Missouri.  KFF – the trusted source of health policy…

This brief presents findings from focus groups with low-income Medicaid and Marketplace enrollees in six cities: Baltimore, MD; Columbus, OH; Oakland, CA; Richmond, VA; St. Louis, MO; and Tampa, FL. It explores their experiences signing up for coverage; their perceptions of whether the costs they pay for their coverage are affordable; their experiences accessing care; and the impact of out-of-pocket costs on their ability to get needed care. It provides insights into the ongoing financial struggles facing low-income individuals and the problems they confront affording health coverage.

This brief examines the experiences of low-income adults in three states that have made varied Medicaid expansion decisions: Ohio, which adopted the ACA Medicaid expansion, Arkansas which implemented the Medicaid expansion through a “Private Option” waiver, and Missouri, which has not adopted the expansion. While Arkansas and Ohio implemented the expansion in different ways, participants in both states described how obtaining coverage improved their ability to access care, contributing to improvements in their ability to work and family relationships. In contrast, participants in Missouri remained uninsured limiting their ability to obtain needed care, creating significant stress and anxiety in their lives, and interfering with their ability to work and care for their families.

Using findings from the 2014 Kaiser Survey of Low-Income Americans and the ACA, this report examines who the low-income uninsured adults in Missouri are, what their health care access and financial security experiences have been, and why they remain uninsured. It compares findings to those enrolled in Medicaid and to the low-income privately insured.

Based on a baseline survey of low-income Americans and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), this report, The Uninsured at the Starting Line in Missouri, provides data on insurance coverage, barriers to care, and financial security among uninsured adults before ACA implementation in Missouri.

This state report explains how the ACA expands coverage in Missouri, including a breakdown of how many uninsured people are eligible for Medicaid, how many are eligible for financial assistance to help them buy private insurance in the new Marketplace and how many will not receive any financial assistance at all. The report also details, in specific dollar figures, the income levels at which people in Missouri are eligible for Medicaid or financial assistance in the Marketplace. For states not expanding Medicaid, the report quantifies how many uninsured people fall into the “coverage gap,” meaning they will be ineligible for financial assistance in the Marketplace or for Medicaid in their state despite having an income below the federal poverty level.

This brief profiles four states that were the first to receive federal approval to take up a state option under the Affordable Care Act to implement health homes for Medicaid beneficiaries with chronic conditions. Almost half of the 9 million people who qualify for Medicaid on the basis of disability…