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Senate Passes Wide-Ranging Health Care Bill to Insure Missouri

May 2, 2008

The Missouri Senate approved legislation Monday to help the uninsured, with a 30-4 vote. The centerpiece of the bill is a new version of the Insure Missouri program originally proposed by Gov. Matt Blunt (R), the Kansas City Star reported earlier in the week.

The plan would provide medical coverage for people aged 19-64 with income of up to 225 percent of the poverty level — or $46,467 a year for a family of four. To qualify, participants could not have access to affordable employer-provided health insurance and must have been without health insurance for at least six months.

Deductibles would be paid on a sliding scale based on income, with a maximum of $1,000 a year. People living below the poverty level would not have to pay anything. People with incomes up to 125 percent of the poverty level would pay just 2 percent of their income — or about $43 a month for a family of four with income up to $2,151 a month. At the top of the income-eligibility scale, participants would pay up to 5 percent of their household income, up to $1,000 a year. Employers could pay up to half the deductible.

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The plan would cover an estimated 54,500 people living below the poverty level, officials estimate. When fully phased in, it could provide insurance for slightly more than 200,000 people in Missouri. The main criticism is that it fails to provide coverage for all of the 90,604 low-income residents kicked off Missouri’s Medicaid program three years ago.

The bill includes programs to communicate the real cost of health care, aiding consumers make informed choices. For example, it establishes an organization to publish reports on medical mistakes such as surgery on the wrong body part or serious medication errors. It sets up a fund to discourage smoking, provides a tax deduction for the cost of certain high-deductible health insurance policies and encourages health insurers to publicly compare the quality and cost efficiency of health-care providers in their networks.

Total administrative costs will be limited to 7% of all funds for the program.

The bill now moves to the House.

(Source: Wagar, Kansas City Star, 4/28).

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Written by Be Safe Insure · Filed Under Health, Insurance Regulation 

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