Gov. Blunt Outlines Health Care Plan to Reduce Uninsured by Nearly 200,000

January 18, 2008

KIRKSVILLE – Following his State of the State Address, Gov. Matt Blunt is traveling Missouri on a statewide tour to outline his health care plan to reduce the number of uninsured Missourians by nearly 200,000. Visiting health care facilities around the state, Gov. Blunt is discussing Insure Missouri, his innovative health care plan to use funding that already exists within the health care system to help Missourians purchase their own personal health insurance.

"I am committed to increasing the number of Missouri families who have access to quality and affordable health care," Gov. Blunt said. "My plan makes health insurance more affordable for working Missourians, by relying on the proven values of work, personal responsibility and free enterprise. Once fully implemented, Insure Missouri will offer access to care for nearly 200,000 Missourians. This new direction has us on a path to affordable coverage for all."

Gov. Blunt highlighted his Insure Missouri plan in his fourth State of the State Address last night. Insure Missouri will help nearly 200,000 Missourians purchase their own insurance and addresses the fact that while more than 5 million Missourians have access to insurance 700,000 are yet to be covered.

Missouri lawmakers have lauded Insure Missouri’s innovation, personal choice, collaborative design, and expanded access to care.

"Insure Missouri is a great idea because it uses tax dollars that are already paying for the care of the uninsured to bring consumers’ choice through the purchase of health insurance with a focus on health and wellness," Senate Leader Michael R. Gibbons said. "We can increase the number of insured Missourians, giving them ownership and choices in the healthcare plans and decisions they make for their families."

The governor has called for Insure Missouri to be implemented in three phases and will give Missourians a choice among competing plans. Planning for Phase I is already under way.

• Phase 1 - Working parents and caregivers with children in the home with incomes up to 100 percent of poverty or $20,650 for a family of four beginning next month and is estimated to bring coverage to about 54,500 Missourians.
• Phase 2 - Starting this summer, the Governor proposes extending coverage to 120 percent of poverty for working parents and other working adults who are not Medicare eligible with income levels set by the General Assembly. The second phase is projected to cover an additional 56,000 working Missourians. Cost sharing will remain below 5 percent of income.
• Phase 3 - Making health care more affordable for small business owners and their employees. Eligibility will be set by the General Assembly and will include a plan to create a "reinsurance" program, which is a way to reduce catastrophic risk to insure employees and make premiums more affordable.

Under Insure Missouri, Missouri families will make a contribution that is affordable based on their income. For those under 100 percent of poverty the only cost sharing will be in the form of reasonable co-payments. For a family of four making around $20,650, there are no premiums only co-payments aligned with federal guidelines of one to three dollars per visit. For a family of four making $35,000, cost sharing would be no more than $145 per month.

Gov. Matt Blunt is funding his proposal using primarily existing resources. Since Insure Missouri is not a big government program it requires limited general revenue that will never exceed $46.8 million. In fact, Insure Missouri uses $350 million already available in the health care system and redirects it to help low income working people purchase their own personal health insurance.

The innovative program will use state and federal resources already in the health care system to pay for uncompensated care that is provided today on the back end to those without health insurance. The governor’s plan invests some of this money to help eligible Missourians purchase their own health insurance on the front end so they will have the coverage they need when they need it. Additional funding from state and federal sources will also help support the Insure Missouri program.

Gov. Blunt has led the effort to replace Missouri’s antiquated, taxpayer funding health care program for low income Missourians with the creation of Mo HealthNet. Mo HealthNet is providing better quality health care for participants with a focus on health, wellness and prevention. Innovative solutions like a health care home, expanded access to care for foster children and increased use of technology are improving health care for participants.

The governor’s focus on improving health care access in the state is also evidenced in legislation he signed cutting taxes by allowing Missourians to deduct the cost of their health insurance premiums. The measure is another measure to help lower the cost of health insurance for Missouri families.

For more information about Insure Missouri visit www.insuremissouri.org or your local Family Support Division offices or Community Health Centers.

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