College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Graduation Date

6-2010

Document Type

Thesis

Keywords

medicaid; transitional medical assistance; healthcare coverage; Missouri, Patton and Sawick's Model of Policy Analysis

Abstract

This study provides a policy analysis of Missouri’s Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA) Program to determine if TMA helps reduce the number of uninsured Missourians. To evaluate implementation of TMA, this analysis follows Patton and Sawicki’s model of policy analysis. Trends in TMA enrollment, Medicaid budget, unemployment rates, number of uninsured Missourians, eligibility requirements and benefits, and information on surrounding state’s Medicaid and TMA eligibility, controls to prevent fraud, waste, and unnecessary spending and enrollment, reporting requirements, and guidelines for alerting and transitioning participants to TMA provide a basis for evaluating the goals and constraints identified. Interviews with caseworkers and supervisors provide additional information on the identified goals and constraints. This research indicates that the TMA policy is designed to reduce the number of uninsured Missourians but the constraints prevent successful implementation. The study concludes that Missouri’s TMA program does not reduce the number of uninsured Missourians based upon available data but if Insure Missouri and universal healthcare have successful implementations, TMA will achieve its intended results.

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