More than 21,600 Missourians, including 10,000 children, lost Medicaid coverage in July

Kelly Dereuck, Springfield News-Leader
·2 min read
A sample version of the renewal notice sent to Missouri Medicaid recipients in the past.

A majority of the Missouri Medicaid recipients whose cases were reviewed in July were found eligible, the number who were not exceeded 21,600 people. Of those who lost coverage, about 10,000 were children.

Verification of Medicaid eligibility was paused during the pandemic, but the practice was reinstated in June. Since then, more than 54,000 people have lost government-funded health insurance coverage.

In June, there were just over 1.5 million recipients of Medicaid in Missouri, roughly a quarter of the state’s population of 6 million people.

Of the more than 106,000 cases reviewed in July, more than 66,000, or almost 63%, were found eligible. Nearly 114,000 more cases will be reviewed in August.

Roughly 18,000 cases are still pending determination, about half the number given this designation in June. While almost 5,000 people were found ineligible for coverage, about 16,600 were disenrolled for procedural reasons.

“Being disenrolled for procedural reasons basically means that they didn't return the paperwork that we asked them to return,” said Caitlin Whaley, communications director for the Department of Social Services. DSS is the state department responsible for verifying Medicaid eligibility.

More: Medicaid eligibility verification drops 32,000, including 16,000 kids, from benefits

Those who lost coverage for procedural reasons have 90 days to submit the necessary documents to prove their eligibility. After 90 days, their coverage will be canceled, and they must reapply to get Medicaid again.

Those currently receiving Medicaid benefits will receive notice that their eligibility will be renewed about a month before their renewal date. Information must be provided by the deadline, either by phone at 1-855-373-4636, digital upload at myDSSupload.mo.gov or in-person at a local resource center, listed at myDSS.mo.gov/renew.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: More than 21,600 people, including 10,000 kids, lost Medicaid in July