Tagged: Jacob Hummel

Medicaid expansion is dead for now in the Missouri House.

First, the House subcommittee that oversees the budgets for the Departments of Health, Mental Health and Social Services voted to approve those agencies budgets without including Governor Jay Nixon’s (D) call to expand Medicaid to an additional 259,000 Missourians next year.  State Representative Sue Allen (R, Town and Country) chairs that subcommittee.

“We can’t afford it…it’s not rocket science," Allen said.  "If we expand, taking federal dollars now, which I do not believe would not use some state (general revenue), even with what we’re told the feds would do now, there will be a time (when) the feds will back off.”

House Democrats are sponsoring legislation to expand Medicaid in Missouri, despite the fact that the state budget filed by Republicans leaves out the proposed expansion.

House Bill 627 would expand Medicaid to an additional 300,000 Missourians, and House Democrats say not passing it would cost the state 5,000 jobs and could force some rural hospitals to close their doors.  Kerry Noble is CEO of Pemiscot Memorial Health Systems in the Missouri Boot-heal.