Tagged: Medicaid

Updated 11:37 a.m. with reaction from Mo. Sen. Claire McCaskill and at 12:01 p.m. with statements from community organizations and Mo. House Speaker Tim Jones. Updated 5:59 p.m. with additional reporting from St. Louis.

Gov. Jay Nixon says expanding Medicaid eligibility in Missouri is both "the smart thing" and "the right thing to do."

Nixon announced his support for the expansion Thursday, saying it could provide health care coverage to an additional 300,000 Missourians.

A new report says Missouri's Medicaid costs could rise by 6.6 percent over 10 years if the state fully implements the federal health care law.

But the report also says almost half of that increase will occur even if Missouri does not expand Medicaid eligibility for adults.

The report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Urban Institute says Missouri can expect to spend an additional $1.2 billion from 2013 to 2022 as more people join the Medicaid rolls because of the federal health care law.