Missouri's 'firestorm' of Medicaid unwinding

By Nomin Ujiyediin,

Published December 5, 2023 at 4:00 AM CST

Ways To Subscribe

A federal lawsuit alleges that Missouri's dysfunctional system prevents low-income residents from getting food aid. Now that the state is also reassessing the Medicaid eligibility of more than 1 million recipients — and kicking people off the rolls — advocates said those flaws have escalated into a crisis for the most vulnerable.

States were banned from removing people from Medicaid during the COVID-19 public health emergency unless a person moved, died or asked to be taken off. Now that the pandemic has been declared over, Missouri and Kansas have resumed checking eligibility and the process has not been going well.

Nomin Ujiyediin spoke with Samantha Liss of KFF Health News about how rocky the process has been and how patients who have lost coverage have been affected.

Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate