Analyzing the Impact of 2005 Medicaid Changes on the Financial and Service Health of MO Hospitals

Publication Date: January 2009

Publisher: Health Management Associates

Author(s): Jon Helder; Rick Hamilton; Jason Cooke

Research Area: Health

Keywords: Missouri; financial; Medicaid; hospitals

Type: Report

Coverage: Missouri

Abstract:

In 2005, the Missouri Legislature instituted substantial changes to the state's Medicaid program. According to the Missouri Department of Social Services about 100,000 Missourians lost coverage and another 300,000 experienced changes due to reductions in covered services. A 2008 MFH study, conducted by the Washington University Center for Health Policy, found that 8 percent of adult survey participants who lost their Medicaid coverage in 2005 were able to access employer-sponsored insurance. Of the remaining, 90 percent of those who lost Medicaid eligibility were either added to the ranks of the state's uninsured (62%) or regained eligibility/became newly eligible for public coverage through Medicaid or Medicare (28%).
This study examines the impact of the 2005 Medicaid changes, not on the specific individuals impacted, but on the broader health care safety net. In particular, this paper uses data from Missouri's hospitals to examine the effect of these changes on the financial and service health of these institutions.