Written by Timothy McBride, PhD, MS, Bernard Becker Professor at the Brown School and co-director of the Center for Health Economics & Policy at the Institute for Public Health
More than 183,000 people are enrolled in the Medicaid expansion in Missouri as of early June (see chart), and more than 200,000 Missourians have applied for Medicaid since August when the expansion was approved by the courts. The Center for Health Economics and Policy at the Institute for Public Health is continuing to monitor the progress of Medicaid expansion in the state of Missouri, and maintains the Missouri Medicaid Enrollment Dashboard to monitor the pace of the expansion in Missouri.
Approximately seven months after the expansion of Medicaid began in Missouri, the number of individuals enrolled hit 183,058 at the beginning of June. The enrollment in the expansion population reflects not only individuals applying for Medicaid for the first time, but also individuals in groups that were reclassified into the Adult Expansion Group from other programs – for example, the Women’s Health Services Program, pregnant women, and children who hit age 19. The recent growth also reflects new adult applicants who were previously uninsured and not eligible for Medicaid. As noted above, more than 200,000 people have applied for the Medicaid program since August under the category that includes the Medicaid expansion.
While more than 200,000 people have applied for Medicaid, a large number (63,488) of these applications (according to a report from DSS) remained “pending” at the end of April, as the state struggled to process these applications on a timely basis, and the average delay in processing these applications was 101 days. Approximately one-third of the pending applications come from individuals who applied for Medicaid expansion through the ACA marketplaces, during an open enrollment period that ended in January, while the other half mostly come in through online applications. As the state continues to process these applications, the expansion enrollment will continue to grow.
The Center for Health Economics and Policy has also produced policy briefs and data visualizations which explore the potential impact that expansion is expected to have in Missouri.
The Center for Health Economics and Policy at the Institute for Public Health, Washington University in St. Louis advances evidence-based research to improve health and works with policy makers and public health leaders to drive more equitable health policy.