Missouri Department of Social Services Issues May 2024 Benefit Report
Imagine turning on the local TV news as you make breakfast. The lead story is that everyone in Springfield, Missouri, its suburb of Nixa and about half of nearby Republic, Missouri disappeared in the past year. That would be major news.
Well, from May 31, 2023 and May 31, 2024 a total of 201,088 Missouri citizens lost their Medicaid [MO HealthNet] coverage!
A few subgroups…
May 2024 May 2023
Custodial Parents 89.027 121,777
Children 622,466 742,106
Disabled 136,849 172,107
What passes as leadership in the Division of Family Services admits they can’t keep up with their paperwork. Remember, a federal judge recently found the state out of compliance with food stamp rules. A similar look at Medicaid files will yield the same condemnation.
Yet, that alone doesn’t answer the questions, such as why 20.5% of the already qualified disabled people (who in Missouri must be severely impoverished to get medical coverage) lost their benefit. Likewise, 26.9% of parents covered decided they didn’t need Medicaid? Or how were 16.1% of kids removed from the rolls?
Why should we care?
The people who had been covered but now lack Medicaid will still wind up in doctor’s offices and hospitals. With no predictable preventative care, they will present with terrible situations requiting extra (and expensive) treatment. That will cost the rest of us more when we go for care. The health care providers will need more of our money to cover the write-offs for uncovered care.
And, those neighbors of ours will not be as healthy – and productive – as they could and should be.
Since this is an election year, please ask candidates needing your vote how they feel about Missouri abandoning so many of our citizens. (Yes, citizens: except for a minuscule number of confirmed refugees, all those on MO HealthNet are citizens!)
Here’s a quick MO HealthNet factoid. In May of this year 1,158,532 covered citizens were in Managed Care plans at a cost of $391 million for the month. That’s $338 per covered person. Care for the 317,605 not in plans cost $858,971,595, or, $2,704 per person. In other words, covering eight kids in Managed Care plans cost the same as one person in ‘traditional Medicaid.’
Oh yes, take a look at the food stamp benefit per person per meal for this May compared to three years ago: isn’t it great that food prices have plummeted so far that people can buy as much food today as three years ago with a lot less money!
Wait, food prices are up by better than 22% over the past three years? Why haven’t Missouri food stamps kept up with that trend since Washington increases food stamp allocation amounts each year?
May Missouri Benefits
2024 2021
Temporary Assistance
Children 9,823 11,605
Parents 3,084 3,114
Total 12,907 14,719
Payments $1,225,059 $1,415,859
Per Family $ 232.24 $ 216.99
Per Day $ 7.49 $ 6.99
Food Stamps
Participants 649,299 691,375
Payments $127,168168 $158,036,280
Per Person $ 195.85 $ 228.58
Per Day $ 2.11 $ 2.46
MO HealthNet
Enrolled 1,304,488 1,080,576
Covered 1,476,137 1,087,045
Payments $1,250,402,092 $810,982,018
Per Person $ 847.08 $ 746.04
Managed Care 1,158,532 825,631
Premium Each $ 337.87 $ 264.83
www.dss.mo/re
Glenn Koenen