Missouri plans no hardship exceptions to its new Medicaid work rules, including for Conagra workers who lose their jobs when the Macon plant closes Jan. 15, 2027.
"The department does not have plans to offer separate hardship exceptions," Baylee Watts, media director for the Missouri Department of Social Services, said in an email Friday.
The Macon Chronicle reported Oct. 28 that the work rules start Jan. 1, 2027, and that Missouri had chosen not to use an optional short-term hardship exception, so losing a job would not automatically excuse someone.
Conagra told employees Nov. 9 that it intends to close the plant, the Chronicle reported that day. The state's list of layoff notices shows the closing affects 442 workers.
The rules apply to adults ages 19 through 64 in MO HealthNet's Adult Expansion Group. There are 937 people in that group in Macon County, Watts said. The state had not published a county count when the Chronicle reported on the rules in October.
To meet the rules for a month, a person can work at least 80 hours, attend school at least half time, volunteer in a structured program run by a public agency or nonprofit, or combine those activities, the department said in October. Income can stand in for hours. In 2026, that amount is $580 for the month.
"Taxable severance pay and unemployment benefits count as gross income toward the $580 monthly threshold that exempts a participant from the 80-hour requirement," Watts said.
"Hours spent in job training or classes through a Missouri Job Center count toward the 80 hours," she said.
The Workforce Development Board of North Missouri offers free job and training help at a Macon site by appointment, the Chronicle reported Thursday. The closest full-service center is the Kirksville Job Center.
For a worker who applies for MO HealthNet in January or February 2027, the department will look at activity in the single month immediately before the application, Watts said. Once the person is enrolled, compliance is reviewed every six months.
"Coverage will not automatically end on January 1, and no action will occur without a prior written notice," Watts said.
If the state cannot confirm that someone already enrolled met the rules, it will send a notice giving 35 days to respond, and coverage stays in place during that time, the department said in October. Anyone whose coverage ends can apply again and can ask for a fair hearing.
Several groups do not have to meet the rules once the Family Support Division confirms they qualify. They include pregnant women and new mothers on postpartum coverage, people with Medicare, parents or caretakers of a child 13 or younger, people who care for someone with a disability, and people found medically frail, according to the department.
In Macon County, documents can be dropped off at the Family Support Division's Macon Resource Center, 1716-B Prospect Drive, the Chronicle has reported.