More Missourians enrolled in Marketplace as thousands lose Medicaid coverage
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The deadline to enroll in the Health Insurance Marketplace ends Tuesday, Jan. 16.
This comes as hundreds of thousands of Missourians have already lost health care coverage since Medicaid annual renewals picked back up in June after pausing during the pandemic.
The most recent data shared by the Department of Social Services shows 158,756 Missourians have lost Medicaid coverage.
Of those, 33,614 people have been determined no longer eligible, while 125,142 people have lost coverage due to procedural reasons such as not completing necessary documentation or the state using electronic data to determine they're no longer eligible.
Data on the Department of Social Services' website shows the income limit for a family of four to be on MO HealthNet is $39,000 a year.
While Medicaid, or MO HealthNet in Missouri, is a government program for low-income residents, the Marketplace is a federally-funded program that allows people to choose their health insurance plans.
Iva Shepherd, outreach program manager at Missouri Primary Care Association, said Marketplace also has income guidelines, but certain plans may include co-pays, deductibles or out-of-pocket maximums that people don't experience on Medicaid.
She said if people lose Medicaid eligibility, looking at the Marketplace is the next best thing.
"If you are found ineligible for Medicaid, you would definitely need to explore the Marketplace," Shepherd said.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported Wednesday 340,534 Missourians have already enrolled in the Marketplace for 2024, with six days left to enroll.
In 2023, CMS reported 257,629 Missourians were enrolled in the Marketplace. That's an increase of almost 83,000 people in the state from 2023-2024.
Plans can be looked at on healthcare.gov.
While open enrollment for the Marketplace ends Tuesday, Shepherd said people who lose Medicaid eligibility will have a 60-day period from when they get taken off of Medicaid to enroll in Marketplace.
"If you do receive a letter in the mail at the end of January, and it says that you have lost coverage under Medicaid, you can still go out to the healthcare.gov because you do meet a special enrollment period," Shepherd said.
She mentioned if people need help navigating the enrollment process, they can go to showmecoverage.org or call 417-840-6788.
Scott Miniea at Missouri Connections for Health said people can also contact the Cover Missouri call center at 1-800-466-3213 or the federally-operated Marketplace call center at 1-800-318-2596.
