SPONSOR: Walker (74)
The Ticket to Work Health Assurance Program provides medical assistance through MO HealthNet for employed, disabled persons who meet certain qualifications, including asset limits and earned, net, and gross income calculations. Currently, disabled individuals whose income exceeds 100% of the federal poverty level pay a premium for participation in the program. If an eligible person's employer offers employer-sponsored health insurance and the Department of Social Services determines the employer-sponsored insurance is more cost effective, the department instead pays that person's costs for the employer-sponsored health insurance.
This bill changes the Ticket to Work Health Assurance Program to the "MO HealthNet Buy-in for Workers with Disabilities Program." MO HealthNet Buy-In differs from the Ticket to Work Health Assurance Program by:
(1) Removing asset limits from qualification calculations;
(2) Modifying the income calculation from a net/gross calculation to a broader definition that would consider income for those disabled persons with incomes up to 300% of the federal poverty level, while retaining the requirement that persons with incomes over 100% of the federal poverty level pay a premium;
(3) Requiring all earned income of a spouse to be disregarded from income calculations;
(4) Requiring MO HealthNet assistance to be provided as a secondary or supplemental policy if the department elects to pay the person's costs of employer-sponsored health insurance;
(5) Requiring the department to provide an annual report to the General Assembly regarding the number of participants in the program, as well as outreach and education efforts; and
(6) Removing the provision requiring the expiration of the program on August 29, 2019.
This bill is the same as HB 769 and SB 203 (2017).
Statutes affected: 208.146