Missouri has just issued the Family Support Division/MO HealthNet Division Monthly Management Report for May 2018 [ https://dss.mo.gov/re/pdf/fsd_mhdmr/1805-family-support-mohealthnet-report.pdf ].
Don’t get excited.
As has become the typical, in May the total number of Missourians receiving food stamps dropped, as did the number getting Temporary Assistance. A few more people received Medicaid, while the cost of Medicaid (MO HealthNet) now beats three-quarters of a billion dollars each month.
Please note: the numbers are not as reliable a documentation of need as they ought to be. The state welfare bureaucracy is in meltdown. Last week I heard a senior Department of Social Service official admit that “May was Hell for us,” with the average wait time for those calling the state going past 29 minutes, with almost six of ten calls “deflected” because the system was overloaded. Now, the benefit system relies on applicants and beneficiaries communicating through the Call Centers on a regular basis: no one has an assigned case manager or worker anymore, everything happens through anonymous backroom piece work. The burden is on the client to communicate with the state: when people can’t get to a voice on the phone they’re benefits may be lost.
So, I feel it is not just possible but true that thousands upon thousands of Missourians who should get food stamps aren’t because they can’t access the system. From what I’m hearing from pantries and non-profits about the state, well, getting and keeping Medicaid is no picnic in the park either.
And, these are the good ole days: in Jefferson City and Washington efforts to slash benefits to struggling families will happen and many families will suffer.
Missouri May Benefits
2018 2013
Temporary Assistance
Kids 19,073 62,730
Adults 5,723 32,169
TOTAL 24,796 94,899
Benefits $2,380,408 $8,442,674
Per Family $222.51 $228.67
Per Day $ 7.18 $7.38
MO HealthNet
Enrolled 973,358 873,466
Covered 1,009,144 921,308
Cost $755.1 million $653.6 million
Per Patient $748.28 $709.44
Managed Care $242.06 $193.55
Per Patient
Food Stamps
Participants 728,853 927,925
Benefits $87,353,207 $118,958,503
Per Person $119.85 $128.20
Per Meal $1.29 $1.38
https://dss.mo.gov/re/pdf/fsd_mhdmr/1305-family-support-mohealthnet-report.pdf
By The Way…
Temporary Assistance is under a block grant, meaning Missouri got essentially the same amount of money to help 25,000 this May as 95,000 in 5/13. Obviously, the money is not going to help families.
In Missouri a non-disabled adults may only get Medicaid if their income is below 22% of the federal poverty line (about $500 a month for a family of four), yet, the number of Missourians on Medicaid continues to grow. If the need is that great, why are the number helped by other anti-poverty programs dropping?
Food stamps now ring $30,000,000 less per month – $360,000,000 less per year – through Missouri grocery store cash registers than they did five years ago.
Submitted by Glenn Koenen, WCD Member