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Missourians trying to enroll in or retain Medicaid — the government-run health insurance program for low-income Americans — are running headlong into the state’s increasingly-strained system. The result: lost and missing paperwork, indecipherable state notices and marathon call center wait times.
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Beginning in the new year, patients 18 and under who enroll in Missouri's insurance programs for low-income people will not be removed for 12 months. Missouri was one of the few U.S. states that did not offer guaranteed yearlong coverage.
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Missouri’s share of children being disenrolled from Medicaid is third-highest among the states that report age breakouts. Nearly 40,000 kids total lost coverage — mostly for paperwork reasons — and it's not yet clear how many were able to cycle back or move to another program.
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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.
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The unanimous decision means low income Missourians eligible via a 2020 ballot initiative can sign up for the health care program, even though the legislature didn’t fund it.
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Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office responded to a May 20 lawsuit seeking for Medicaid rolls to be opened to 275,000 working-age adults, following a voter-approved constitutional amendment.
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The report concludes that expanding the program in Missouri would create tens of thousands of jobs. "We don’t see how the state can’t afford to expand Medicaid," one researcher said.