KBIA

Missouri Foundation for Health Study says Cuts to Medicaid Added Strains to Health Centers Across State KANSAS CITY, MO (KBIA) - Missouri's cut-backs to Medicaid more than three years ago added strains to health centers and hospitals across the state. That's based on a new study from the Missouri Foundation for Health, and partly funded by the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City.

The report reviewed hospital, health center, and population data from the years before and after the state Medicaid cuts. Ryan Barker oversaw the study and says the Medicaid reductions rippled throughout the entire health care system.

"It affects both institutions that are providing the care as well as the taxpayers and individual citizens who may have private insurance."

Barker says the cuts put health centers in a bind - they saw a jump in people without insurance, but had a nearly twenty percent drop in Medicaid revenue. Barker says health centers made up for the increased costs by charging patients more, relying on grants and money from local taxes, and in some cases, reducing services.

© Copyright 2010, KBIA