WASHINGTON — About 17,000 Missourians have applied for Medicaid since August under expanded eligibility rules, the U.S. Health and Human Services department said Monday morning.
Last Friday, Missouri’s Department of Social Services began processing applications for the state health insurance program under the new eligibility rules. With expansion officially underway after nearly a year of funding uncertainty and a court battle, the Biden administration is hoping to persuade a dozen other Republican holdout states to expand eligibility, more than a decade after the option was created by the Obama administration. HHS released a statement urging Missourians to apply for the program.
For those who do end up qualifying, their health care costs will be covered retroactively, starting from the date they applied.
