Missouri lawmakers are locked in a debate over extending government-run health care to able-bodied, low-income parents or adults who have pre-existing conditions preventing them getting private coverage.

The Missouri House on Tuesday voted down an effort to resurrect Gov. Jay Nixon's proposal to expand health insurance funding for low-income children.

The Missouri Senate passed a bill Thursday that attempts to find middle ground in the fight over how to pay for health care for low-income, working parents.

Insurance companies offered Tuesday to end the practice of charging higher premiums to women than to men for the same coverage.

In an effort to defuse the most explosive issue in the debate over comprehensive health care legislation, a top Senate Democrat has proposed that any new government-run insurance program comply with all the rules and standards that apply to private insurance.

Senate leaders are working against a tightening calendar in tackling two of the most difficult aspects of a health care overhaul: how to provide every American with health insurance coverage and how to pay for it.

The latest news is available at
www.CoverMissouri.org

The Missouri Foundation for Health has released a fact sheet, SCHIP Reauthorization 2009, summarizing the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA). This fact sheet examines the policy implications for Missouri and the new funding opportunities available through the federal law.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) provides affordable health coverage to more than seven million children nationally, including 66,000 in Missouri. In February 2009, SCHIP was reauthorized and went into effect April 1, 2009. The new law, CHIPRA, provides states with additional funding, incentives, and mechanisms to increase enrollment and improve benefit packages. It is projected that CHIPRA will cover four million additional children.

In Missouri, CHIPRA will provide bonus payments if certain policies are adopted and specific enrollment targets are met. Additionally, the federal law:

• Reduces administrative hurdles;
• Increases Missouri's annual federal allotment by 58 percent (from $82 million to $129 million in 2009); and
• Provides new policy options for covering pregnant women and children.

In recent years, the number of uninsured children in Missouri has increased to 150,000. Through the reauthorization of SCHIP, Missouri has the opportunity to reduce this number and fully implement children's coverage programs.

Read the Fact Sheet