Eligibility Rules Change for Missourians Seeking Health Insurance
02 01 08 - 15:53
Missourians who lack health insurance and who want to purchase it should have a little easier time getting coverage. A law expanding access to health insurance is now in effect. It expands the eligibility and lowers premiums for people to be covered by the Missouri Health Insurance Pool.
Emily Kampeter with the State Department of Insurance says the Pool is a government-sponsored program providing access to health insurance to people who cannot afford it or who are denied because of chronic health problems. In order to be accepted into the Pool a person must be asked to pay 150 percent of the standard market premium.
The MHIP was created in 1991 and expanded through HB 818 - a bill passed by the General Assembly during 2007 and signed into law by Governor Matt Blunt (R-MO).