Senate passes bill that replaces state Medicaid

Senate Bill 577 passed by a 26–7 vote. It now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Medicaid, which according to a Senate news release currently services 825,000 Missourians and costs taxpayers $6 billion a year, is scheduled to sunset June 30, 2008. MO HealthNet would create a health care advocate for every person enrolled. That advocate would serve a patient’s home base for prevention and medical attention.

“Under the current system, patients don’t have one person or place that they can always count on,” said Senate Majority Floor Leader Charlie Shields, R–St. Joseph, the bill’s sponsor, in the release. “MO HealthNet gives them a health care advocate so they won’t end up in the emergency room when all they need is attention for a cold.”

Other provisions of MO HealthNet include:

• A rewards program for recipients who work to improve their health. Patients can earn points for making appointments, getting screenings and reaching health goals they set with their advocate. Those points would transfer to credits on debit cards that can be used to pay for co-payments, prescription drugs and other health-related expenses.

• An extension on the age for coverage of children in foster care to 21 years old, from 18. The age provision has an emergency clause that would put it into effect immediately after Gov. Matt Blunt signs the bill.

• Prevention and health care services for 90,000 women who don’t have access to employer-provided insurance and meet income requirements. The plan would cover services such as pelvic exams, Pap tests for cervical cancer screenings and pregnancy planning and counseling. It would draw down 90 percent of funding from the federal government, compared to the 60 percent paid through Medicaid.

• A shift of elderly people and recipients with disabilities into coordinated care programs.

• Permission for employers to use tax-free dollars to pay premiums on private insurance for uninsured workers.

• Rewards for whistle-blowers who report Medicaid/MO HealthNet provider fraud, which has resulted in about $500 million stolen per year, according to the release.[[In-content Ad]]