On August 4, 2020 Missouri became the 39th state (including DC) to adopt Medicaid expansion, and the 6th state to have done so through a voter initiative. Prior research has documented a significant and measurable relationship between the strength of community health centers and their location in ACA Medicaid expansion states. A new data note examines the potential impact of Medicaid expansion on Missouri’s community health centers and their patients. Researchers estimate that expansion can be expected to insure an additional 36,000 to 42,000 health center patients and to increase health center revenue statewide by $34 to $40 million, or 6 to 7 percent. These coverage gains can be expected to improve both the volume and scope of services that health centers are able to provide or arrange for by generating more operating revenue, which in turn will permit health centers to strengthen care capacity. The state’s health centers can be expected to care for an additional 36,000 to 43,000 patients – both insured and uninsured – as services expand overall, and to provide 133,000 to 156,000 more visits. The analysis suggests that Missouri’s Medicaid expansion will produce the same measurable, beneficial community-wide effects seen in community health centers in expansion states across the nation. As part of the diverse Healthcare for Missouri coalition, Missouri Primary Care Association members played a central role in educating the public about the Medicaid expansion effort through a campaign that generated more than 1 million Get Out TheVote (GOTV) phone calls, ultimately overcoming – by some 82,000 votes – a strong effort by opponents to defeat the measure.
The data note is authored by Sara Rosenbaum, Leighton Ku, Peter Shin, Jessica Sharac, Maria Velasquez.