Medicaid
Centene to pay $166 million to Texas in Medicaid drug pricing settlement
Health insurance giant Centene Corp. has agreed to pay $165.6 million to Texas to resolve claims that it overcharged the state’s Medicaid program for pharmacy services. It’s the biggest known payout by the nation’s largest Medicaid insurer over its drug pricing practices. The deal was signed July 11 but hadn’t been publicly announced until Monday […]
Biden administration finalizes end to Trump-era ‘public charge’ rule for immigrants
The Biden administration finalized a new public charge rule on Thursday that would eliminate Trump-era policies that penalized low-income immigrants seeking health benefits and other services. The new rule from the Department of Homeland Security will roll back the types of assistance immigration officers can consider when evaluating immigrants for a green card and deciding […]
Federal report shows Missouri Medicaid application wait times among worst in nation
A federal report released Thursday shows that Missouri ranks at or near the bottom nationally in terms of processing Medicaid applications in the federally-permitted time.
Missouri Medicaid wait list averages 90 days. The state has a month to cut it in half
Where the state stands regarding Medicaid wait lists was just one topic Friday of a wide-ranging media briefing held by leaders within the Missouri Department of Social Services, or DSS.
Former state vendor awarded $23M in lawsuit over Missouri Medicaid system implementation
A software integration company’s six-year legal saga against the state reached a resolution last week, when it was awarded a little over $23 million in its lawsuit alleging contract breaches over extra work to implement a Department of Social Services’ case management system. On Wednesday, Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem granted a directed verdict […]
Missouri officials vow progress as Medicaid applicant wait time remains at 100 days
State health officials faced tough questions Wednesday from the board overseeing Missouri’s Medicaid program — with a focus on the persistently long wait times for applicants and heightened federal scrutiny of the program.
Federal government steps in to help pull Missouri out of Medicaid backlog
Federal officials last month approved a plan to help Missouri deal with “ongoing and persistent” delays in processing Medicaid applications that have left the state out of compliance with federal standards for nearly a year. Longtime observers of the state’s Medicaid program say the decision by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to intervene is […]
U.S. Senate preps big tax, climate and health bill after deal struck with Sinema
U.S. Senate Democrats’ wide-ranging tax, climate and health bill appears set to pass after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona struck a deal to soften the measure’s corporate tax increase and a second tax hike aimed at wealthy finance-sector workers, Schumer told reporters Friday. The revenue lost to obtain Sinema’s support […]
Missouri Dems hope Kansas, Illinois will help pay for out-of-state residents’ abortions
Missouri’s top Democratic lawmakers have yet to receive a formal response to letters urging governors in Kansas and Illinois to help pay for abortions for out-of-state Medicaid patients, though a Kansas lawmaker said it is highly unlikely given Republican dominance of the state’s legislature. In letters sent Wednesday and first reported by the Associated Press, […]
Stark disparities persist in Missouri’s maternal mortality rate, state board finds
A multi-year report analyzing maternal mortality in Missouri and published Monday found that women on Medicaid are eight times more likely to die within one year of pregnancy than their counterparts with private health insurance. It also found Black women in Missouri were three times more likely to die within a year of pregnancy than […]
Bill gives Missouri House, Senate leaders authority over when legislature intervenes in court
A bill awaiting action by Gov. Mike Parson would muzzle Democratic minorities by giving legislative leaders sole authority to intervene on behalf of the House or Senate in court cases. During last year’s court battle over implementing Medicaid expansion, GOP House leadership filed an amicus, or friend of the court, brief on behalf of the […]
Missouri hopes to finally shrink months-long wait times for Medicaid coverage
Missouri officials vowed again Wednesday to lower the number of days it takes to process Medicaid applications – which was an average of 101 days in April — and come into federal compliance with the maximum of 45 days. “We’ll get to a place where we should be processing in under 45 days by the […]