State to report on employers’ Medicaid use

Gov. Matt Blunt signed an executive order Nov. 27 that directs DSS to issue the Missouri Health Care Responsibility Report.

“This is about transparency and gathering information that will help us make good decisions as we work together to expand access to health care for all Missourians,” Blunt said in a news release. “Taxpayers will be better served if the state implements a procedure to gather this data regarding the employment of those who receive Medicaid.”

The report will show where recipients of state-funded health care are employed and will list businesses with at least 50 employees who receive, or whose dependents receive, Medicaid.

The report will make industrywide comparisons by sorting employers into categories and will include the state’s cost of providing coverage for each employer. It will also include information on health insurance benefits offered to full-time and part-time employees, their spouses and dependents.

The first report will be issued in the first quarter of 2008 and will be posted on the DSS Web site, www.dss.mo.gov.

This story originally appeared in SBJ’s Nov. 28 free e-news Daily Update. Click here to register.