Imagine a stifling August classroom full of first graders. The underpaid teacher puts a problem on the board: 2 + 2 + ___
That cute little blonde girl dripping sweat onto her desk raises her hand. “The answer is 5,” she states.
The teacher calls on the boy in the back sucking the last drop out of his water bottle. He looks up and says, “5.”
Around the room the teacher goes, calling on most of the 35 kids in her charge. All agree on the answer, “5.”
Well, the teacher knows the correct answer, but, being a good Missouri Republican, she congratulates the class for sticking together and giving the answer they want to believe.
Let’s be clear. No matter how many times MO HealthNet director Todd Richardson, Speaker of the House Elijah Haahr, House budget chair David Wood and accidental Governor Mike Parson claim that the number of kids on Missouri Medicaid keep falling due to the ‘great economy,’ parents choosing to not accept free health care for their kids and the ‘improved’ computers at the Department of Social Services, 2 + 2 still does not equal 5.
For example, on KWMU’s Politically Speaking podcast Rep. Wood (R – Versailles) – a former math teacher – claimed that the ‘economy is improving’ and said, “We’re not taking coverage away from anyone.”
Again, let’s look at real numbers. Per the June 30, 2019 daily General Revenue Report for the state I’ve cited before, Missouri ended Fiscal Year 2019 with a 1.1% decrease in state income tax revenue! That does not indicate a healthy, growing economy.
As I’ve explained before, Missouri uses multiple computer systems for its benefit programs. A long-standing issue has been that new addresses, changed income and other information put into one system isn’t reliably entered in other systems. So, when a computer match throws kids off Medicaid, that form letter may very well a) be going to an old, wrong address, and, b) be based on old information. So, yes, Missouri is throwing kids off Medicaid whether they mean to or not.
“House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, said Monday that the cuts largely resulted from a new computer system’s ability to weed out enrollees who earned too much money to qualify for the program.”
As Washington University professor Timothy McBride – the state’s best independent expert on Medicaid – noted in that piece, families would have to see their income double or triple for them to lose Medicaid eligibility for their kids. Most families, obviously, have not seen their income soar – as noted by those income tax receipts!
Once again, we come to the sad and scary part…The parents of many kids kicked-off Medicaid won’t find out that their kids aren’t covered until they have a prescription rejected by the local pharmacy or their doctor tells them they have to pay for their child’s treatment in advance because the Medicaid system rejected them. Behind these nasty numbers parents discover real pain every day.
What plans does the GOP-led legislature have to fix this issue? 2 + 2 = 5
When presented with the initiative petition to Expand Medicaid, please sign.
Glenn