Some Benefits for Missouri's New Health Insurance Program Not Funded

Missouri Health Insurance Funding

Some benefits, including dental and vision coverage, included in Missouri's new health insurance plan MO HealthNet were not funded this year, state lawmakers said Tuesday at a forum on health care, the Kansas City Star reports. MO HealthNet, which replaces the state's Medicaid program, took effect on Tuesday, and state lawmakers at the forum answered questions about the new program (Tsai, Kansas City Star, 8/28).

The goal of the $6 billion Missouri health insurance program is to shift the focus of state-funded health care to prevention and early detection of diseases. The program will set up health care homes at existing facilities to serve as a central point of contact for patients and help patients create personalized long-term health plans; restore dental and vision care for Medicaid beneficiaries, subject to funding approval by the state Legislature each year; and restore coverage for up to 13,500 children who were cut from Medicaid two years ago. Premiums for children will be limited to 3% to 5% of parents' annual income.

The program also will create a health program for uninsured women with annual incomes up to 185% of the federal poverty level and raise payments to medical providers up to the federal maximum within four years (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/5).

Missouri state Rep. Mike Talboy (D) said a provision that would require beneficiaries to meet "healthy living benchmarks," such as maintaining a healthy weight, to receive dental and vision benefits was removed from the final version of the legislation. However, state Rep. Beth Low (D) said, "The reality is there is no real health insurance coverage for dental care and vision." State Rep. Paul LeVota (D) said advocates must continue to push for changes to the state's health care system. LeVota said that even though lawmakers next session might make it sound like "we're already done with that and we've fixed health care, don't let this issue die" (Kansas City Star, 8/28).

Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, and sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork.org/email . The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 2007 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.