Disabled Missourians are calling on state lawmakers to take action to make it easier for the disabled to qualify for Medicaid benefits. Rich Blakley, Executive Director of Disabled Citizens Alliance, says the current system makes senior citizens and the disabled eligible for benefits only after they have exhausted their monthly income down to $591 – the so-called “Medicald spendown” level. That’s less than 100-percent of the poverty level. Blakley says people cannot live on $591 a month, and expecting them to spend down to that level on medication before they are eligible for Medicaid benefits is all wrong.