By Maria Hickey, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Missouri families enrolled in a children's health insurance program for the poor will no longer have to wait six months to re-enroll if they miss a payment.
Last spring lawmakers implemented a new monthly premium for families that make between 150-300% of the federal poverty level.
More than 12,000 families failed to make the first payment in September; the state gave them until November 30th to pay.
But now Department of Social Services spokeswoman Deborah Scott says that deadline - along with the six-month re-enrollment period - have since been dropped: "And what this means for families is that if they still have not paid their premium for their children's health insurance they can do that at any time; that they remain eligible and there's no waiting period."
About 8,700 children remain without insurance because their families did not pay the premium.
"If a family misses a payment then their children's coverage is interrupted, but as soon as payment is received by the agency then the health insurance can be re-instated immediately," Scott added.