State legislators are currently deliberating on a number of proposed laws aimed at limiting the ability of public and private organizations to conduct training or implement initiatives focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Some of these bills target only state departments, while others extend to public and private medical institutions within higher education. If passed,…
Read More
On January 31, the RHC submitted public comment in support of proposed rule 13 CSR 70-25.160 Doula Services, which would establish the Department of Social Services’ MO HealthNet Division guidelines regarding coverage and reimbursement for community doula services. Maternal and infant mortality rates in Missouri are consistently one of the highest in the nation, and people…
Read More
On December 5th, KFF posted a press release about their recently published 2023 Racism, Discrimination and Health Survey. The survey, a large, nationally representative sample of over 6,000 responses illustrates the experiences of racism and discrimination across racial and ethnic groups. The survey explores experiences related to economic circumstances, interactions with police, discrimination in daily…
Read More
On January 17th, the Regional Health Commission (RHC) submitted testimony in support of Senate Bill 748 (SB 748) which would remove the expiration date for the federal reimbursement allowance (FRA). The federal reimbursement allowance (FRA) system also known as the “provider tax” started in the 1990s, when hospitals began voluntarily contributing funds to the state,…
Read More
On January 16th, the Regional Health Commission (RHC) submitted testimony in support of House Bill 2190 which would expand access to contraception by prioritizing and passing annual-supply birth control legislation. HB 2190 would require any health benefit plan in Missouri to reimburse a health care provider or dispensing entity for the dispensing of a supply…
Read More
Following the conclusion of the 2023 Missouri legislative session on May 12th, the RHC has published a legislative “wrap-up” to summarize the wins, losses, and issues to keep an eye on going forward. You can read the full wrap-up here, or find summaries of the key policy issues we are tracking below. If you missed…
Read More
On April 27th, the Regional Health Commission released a statement on gender-affirming care in response to the Missouri Attorney General’s emergency regulation. Read the statement from the RHC below, or click to download a pdf version. The St. Louis Regional Health Commission and Alive and Well Communities advocate for access to gender-affirming care for transgender…
Read More
Annual renewals for MO HealthNet (Missouri Medicaid) will begin April 1, 2023. Beginning April 1, Family Support Division will need to check the eligibility of all MO HealthNet (Missouri Medicaid) participants. If you are a Missourian who gets healthcare coverage through MO HealthNet or any of the Managed Care health plans (Healthy Blue, Home State Health,…
Read More
Overview The Regional Health Commission (RHC) has partnered with the St. Louis County Department of Public Health (DPH) to mass-enroll people incarcerated in the St. Louis County Jail in Medicaid health insurance coverage. The goal of the initiative is to help those who are incarcerated apply and enroll in Medicaid so that when they are…
Read More
ST. LOUIS, September 26, 2022 – On October 6th, 2022, the RHC with partners Behavioral Health Network of Greater St. Louis (BHN), Generate Health, St. Louis Integrated Health Network (IHN) and Legal Services of Eastern Missouri (LSEM) hosted a Town Hall and Educational Roundtable event, centered around Medicaid and Reproductive Health. If you were unable…
Read More
In August 2020, Missouri voters approved Medicaid expansion, making more than 200,000 Missourians eligible to receive healthcare coverage under Medicaid. However, since its approval, significant backlogs in application processing have prevented Missouri residents from receiving care — as of June 2022, over 58,000 Missourians had pending Medicaid applications. Although federal guidelines require Medicaid applications to…
Read More