One in seven Missourians is on Medicaid (health care reform = 249,832 more)

More than one in every seven Missourians is enrolled in the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor, according to the Department of Social Services.

Approximately 14.73 percent of the state's 5.9 million residents — or 871,081 low-income adults, people with disabilities, pregnant women, seniors and children — were using the state's health insurance program for the poor as of June 2009, the latest figures available, according to DSS caseload statistics.

Nearly 510,000 of the Medicaid enrollees in Missouri are children, state caseload statistics show.

The News-Leader reported Sunday that Congress is considering a proposal to increase Medicaid eligibility to 133 percent of the federal poverty level as part of comprehensive health care reform.

That would mean up to 249,832 additional low-income adults could enroll in the taxpayer-funded entitlement program, according to DSS.

Missouri currently has one of the lowest income eligibility cut-offs at 20 percent of the poverty level, or $3,504 a year for a family of three.

The Democratic plan in the U.S. House would raise the income eligibility to $24,352 for a family of three in Missouri. A Senate committee is proposing raising the eligibility to 150 percent of the poverty level.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20090824/BLOGS09/90824015/-1/BLOGS09/One+in+seven+Missourians+is+on+Medicaid