Friday, January 26, 2007
Contact: Jessica Robinson, 573-751-0290
Blunt Outlines Health Care Access Plan for Missouri
Governor’s Plan Would Help Low Income Missourians & the Uninsured
SPRINGFIELD–Gov. Matt Blunt is visiting health care facilities around the state to outline his plan to help low income Missourians with a new initiative called MO HealthNet. Blunt is also talking to Missourians about his six principles to help increase the number of people who have health insurance.
“As I said in my State of the State address, Missourians are concerned about health care, and I am concerned about health care,” Blunt said. “With the advice and suggestions of thousands across our state, we developed a new way to provide health care for low income Missourians that will guarantee every participant has access to primary and preventative care.”
MO HealthNet replaces the old Medicaid system and improves health care for low income Missourians by giving participants meaningful choices. HealthNet will empower participants by providing opportunities for prevention and wellness.
HealthNet recognizes that participants should have one central point of contact and a doctor who knows them personally. HealthNet provides this access by giving participants the option to choose their health care home. A health care home improves the quality of care by allowing participants to decide together with their provider the most effective treatment if they get sick. To keep participants healthy, a health care home will provide regular check-ups, screenings and immunizations based on individual needs.
HealthNet will also empower participants to make their own health care choices by significantly expanding the number of participants who are allowed to choose their own health plan or purchase health insurance.
Additionally, Blunt’s HealthNet plan will expand health care coverage to the employed disabled and will cover foster children until they are 21. Currently, foster children are only eligible for benefits until their 18th birthday. Blunt’s plan will also allow more children to be eligible for health coverage under the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
Blunt also pointed out that while more than 5 million Missourians have health insurance, 700,000 are yet to be covered. The governor outlined six principles in his State of the State address to help increase the number of Missourians who have health insurance.
“We must increase the number of Missourians in our state who have health insurance,” Blunt said. “We need to work together to reduce the number of uninsured and expand access to quality, affordable health insurance, and I have outlined an initiative to accomplish this goal.”
The governor’s six principles to help cover the uninsured includes:
- Combining various resources – federal and state, public and private – to lower the price of insurance.
- Offer incentives to employers that provide health insurance such as the governor’s franchise tax cut proposal for employers who offer health insurance for their workers.
- Improve our laws so that Missourians can take their insurance with them when they switch jobs.
- Pool the purchasing power of the uninsured to help them buy insurance at the lowest possible cost.
- Allow employers and employees to pay insurance premiums with tax free dollars.
- Invest $20 million to help launch this initiative, taking all of these principles into account.
Gov. Blunt is traveling the state on Thursday and Friday to discuss his health care access plan at health care facilities in Cape Girardeau, St. Louis, Hannibal, Kirksville, Springfield, Joplin, Kansas City and St. Joseph.
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