JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The top Republican in the Missouri House has asked for a briefing on the number of children dropped from Missouri’s Medicaid rolls. And should those answers fail to address concerns, he is ready to launch a legislative inquiry into the issue.
In a letter to House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, Speaker Elijah Haahr wrote, “I too share your concerns” regarding the number of Missourians who had their state health care rescinded.
Earlier in the week, Quade asked the House Speaker to charge a committee with seeking answers. While Haahr is not diving straight into committee hearings, that is a possibility moving forward.
At issue is the considerable reduction in enrollment in MO HealthNet during the last 18 months.
In June, 11,500 individuals — including more than 9,000 children — had their state health care rescinded, according to the Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS) data. In total, roughly 120,000 people, of which 95,000 are children, have been removed from MO HealthNet rolls since January 2018.
More than a month ago, Haahr said he asked the chairman of the Subcommittee on Appropriations – Health, Mental Health, and Social Services, Rep. David Wood, to investigate the drop in enrollment and continue to monitor MO HealthNet.
“Upon receiving your letter Monday morning, I personally requested that [MO HealthNet Division] Director Todd Richardson provided an updated briefing on reasons for the change in enrollment numbers to Rep. Wood and myself,” Haahr told Quade. “If MO HealthNet’s response to my request for more details fails to adequately answer our concerns or new ones arise, I will give my full support to Rep. Wood and Rep. [Jon] Patterson to hold hearings on this issue.”
Patterson, a doctor by trade, was appointed by Haahr to the MO HealthNet Oversight Committee, which most recently met on July 23.
Democrats for months have publicly been seeking answers to the roll reduction.
In February, Sen. Scott Sifton wrote to Richardson, asking a series of questions regarding the “dramatic”‘ reduction of Missourians covered by Medicaid.
Richardson responded to Sifton’s letter the same month. He attributed the decline to several reasons: improved economy; a decrease in emphasis on the federal marketplace and repeal of the individual mandate; and new technology to better track and issue annual reviews.
Quade alleged the decline is due to issues with the re-enrollment process and not a byproduct of an improving economy. She noted similar decreases are not seen in other state programs such as SNAP and TANF.
Alisha Shurr was a reporter for The Missouri Times and The Missouri Times Magazine. She joined The Missouri Times in January 2018 after working as a copy editor for her hometown newspaper in Southern Oregon. Alisha is a graduate of Kansas State University.
