U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius paid a brief visit to the Grace Hill Health Center Water Tower site in North St. Louis Friday, January 31 to tout the progress of enrollment in quality health insurance in Missouri and across the U.S. She and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay are encouraging anyone who is uninsured and have not signed up, to do so by the March 31 deadline.
“About 16 percent of Missourians are uninsured and eligible for health care with the new law – about 800,000 folks who live here in the Show Me State,” Sebelius said. “In St. Louis City and regional area, there are about 227,000 eligible residents and 94 percent of those folks are eligible for financial assistance.
“Every day, Missouri loses $5 million of Federal funding,” Sebelius said. “That’s how much money would come into the state of Missouri daily to support the newly insured if Medicaid was expanded.”
Expanding Medicaid to 133 percent of poverty is 100 covered under the Affordable Care Act for the first three calendar years (2014-2016), gradually decreasing to a 90 percent fed and 10 percent state share. It has an uphill battle in the Missouri legislation, however.
“It’s an incredibly generous offer, fully paid for under the Act; doesn’t add a dime to the deficit,” Sebelius said. “That is only available if a state choses to come to 133 percent.”
She said 33,000 Missourians have already signed up in the new marketplace.
St. Louis city is working with the Urban League to hold enrollment events in February and March. It is also sending letters to restaurants, hotels, grocery store owners that have many part-time employers, asking them to share enrollment availability with its workers.
we’ll be reaching out to more than 70,000 part-time employees in more than 3,000 hospitality industry businesses,” Slay said. “These are businesses that typically have a lot of part time employees and they do not qualify for employer funded benefits, including health insurance.”
Many work for small businesses that employ 50 or fewer employees, who do not offer insurance benefits, Slay said, who don’t get paid if they don’t work.
“Because of the marketplace there are now affordable options for these employees at no cost to their employers. Having access to preventive care services through the marketplace will help our workforce be healthier and help our economy as well,” Slay added.
To request assistance, employers should call St. Louis’ Citizen’s Services Bureau at 314-622-4800.
