skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Rate of Uninsured Children Worsens in Missouri, Nationwide

play audio
Play

Thursday, November 29, 2018   

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – About 75,000 children in Missouri lacked health insurance in 2017, or about 5.1 percent, according to a new report from Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families.

That's a small increase over 2016 and is just above the national average, which increased from 4.7 to 5 percent.

Amanda Schneider, director of the Medical Legal Partnership at Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, says recently-released Medicaid enrollment data show an additional 28,000 children were dropped from enrollment statewide, so she predicts the 2018 numbers are going to be worse.

"There's not only a lack of progress in Missouri. We also know that there's been a significant drop recently," Schneider explains. "And we know that is likely due to some bureaucratic barriers which make it harder for eligible kids to remain on Medicaid and CHIP in Missouri."

Schneider says her clients who've lost coverage blame lengthy, hard-to-understand renewal forms that are only printed in English and have to be mailed back. They also complain that call centers put people on hold for long periods of time, or fail to connect them with anyone who can help.

The report showed that no state, aside from Washington, D.C., made gains in getting kids insured, despite a strong economy.

Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown Center, notes that Missouri is one of 14 states that chose not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

"We found three-quarters of the children who lost coverage between 2016 and 2017 live in states that have not expanded Medicaid to their parents and other adults," Alker points out. "Really, the only thing I think at this point that a state could do to overcome these negative national currents would be to expand Medicaid."

The report finds that constant attacks on the ACA, the move to cap Medicaid and the delay in reauthorizing CHIP all contributed to public unease about signing up.

The administration also cut the ACA open enrollment period in half. It now ends Dec. 15.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021