Defining Affordable Health Care for Missouri

More than 700,000 Missouri residents, or .3 percent of the population, currently have no health coverage. Most of the uninsured cannot afford health coverage. As Missouri wrestles with policy options to reduce the number of uninsured, it is critical to understand what Missourians can actually afford in terms of coverage. A health reform plan not grounded in the reality of what Missouri families can afford will not succeed in reducing the number of uninsured in our state.

Defining Affordability

A number of issues arise when considering a definition of affordability, including limited information and data identifying the price-point at which health care becomes affordable. Several studies assume that insurance becomes affordable at defined income levels, these levels usually track with the federal poverty level (FPL). However, tying affordability to FPL makes it very diicult to accommodate diferences in demographics, geography, and life circumstances, factors that oten determine whether a family can afford health insurance.

Responding to the lack of information on the role of affordability on health coverage, Community Catalyst has created a methodology for Defining health insurance affordability by drawing together several diferent studies. Using this methodology Community Catalyst has developed a model for Missouri establishing health care affordability for the state. Broken into three regions, the model examines affordability standards for Missouri families of non-health public programs; the cost of basic needs (e.g., housing, food, and transportation); current spending on health care; and price sensitivity to health insurance.