In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch today, an article discusses MO HealthNet, which Gov. Matt Blunt signed into law yesterday. The reformed Medicaid system would move the program’s focus to prevention, rather than reacting to people’s health problems:

By taking a proactive rather than reactive approach to health care, we
will give poor, elderly and disabled Missourians a health care system
they can be proud of, one that delivers real results, said the governor.

The program would restore some cuts that were made by the Legislature in 2005. The bill also includes provisions that would help people who do not qualify for Medicaid, but still cannot afford to pay at least a portion of insurance premiums. For the most part, the new reforms move Medicaid in Missouri in a good direction. Missouri recently has been ranked low on quality and availability of health care, but this bill, coupled with HB 818, will move the state up the charts soon.