Another month, a few less Missourians getting help from benefit programs…
The Missouri Department of Social Services June 2019 Monthly Management Report covering the Family Support Division and MO HealthNet Division is now available.
Oh, there was one small surprise: the number of Missourians receiving Temporary Assistance climbed – by 50 people – as the number of kids and adults on the rolls grew.
Still, the MO HealthNet (Medicaid) and food stamps totals slipped.
As has been reported elsewhere, in the past year about 95,000 Missouri kids have lost their Medicaid coverage. Ironically, many of their parents don’t know it yet.
Remember, why most of us buy food multiple times each month, healthy kids might not see the doctor for many months. Many families will learn they kids are no longer covered by Medicaid after going to the doctor or getting a prescription filled for the first time in a long time.
Yes, the Department of Social Services sends out all sorts of form letters. Most are hard to understand, and, since Missouri uses multiple computer systems for different programs too often new addresses don’t get updated in all the necessary places. (And, low-income folks tend to move more often than the rest of us.)
June Missouri Benefits
2019 2012
Temporary Assistance
Children 16,318 67,836
Parents 4,741 35,009
Total 21,059 102,845
Benefits $2,037,896 $9,245,888
Per Family $221.65 $231.23
Per Day $ 7.39 $ 7.71
MO HealthNet (Medicaid)
Enrolled 858,077 889,159
Covered 965,140 927,532
Cost $746,398,839 $558,965,128
Per Patient $773.36 $602.64
Managed Care 715,965 441,627
Premium $223.27 $195.09
Food Stamps
Participants 682,299 943,835
Benefits $81,712,134 $121,487,386
Per Person $119.76 $128.70
Per Meal $ 1.33 $ 1.43
https://dss.mo.gov/re/pdf/fsd_mhdmr/1906-family-support-mohealthnet-report.pdf
https://dss.mo.gov/re/pdf/fsd_mhdmr/1206-family-support-mohealthnet-report.pdf
Temporary Assistance Trivia…Back in June 2012 Missouri had five parents getting On The Job Training to help them escape “welfare.” This June, again, no parents received OJT.
By the way, note that average TA and Food Stamp benefit has dropped from seven years ago.
WHAT! The cost of living is actually 11.6% higher now than it was seven years ago! [ https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ ] So, benefits helping Missouri families don’t go as far as they used to – even though the block grant for TA and food stamp authorization from Congress allowed for cost of living increases.
Glenn