Republicans again target health insurance for low-income Missourians | Politics

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JEFFERSON CITY — A Senate committee opened debate Tuesday on a Republican plan to reverse a voter-approved Medicaid expansion.

The proposed constitutional amendment, which rolled out of the House last month on a 96-41 vote, would ask voters in November to reverse their 2020 decision to permanently expand the health insurance program funded by the government.

The debate in the Senate Appropriations Committee was a continuation of the GOP’s continued opposition to the signing of former President Barack Obama, who has been absent for more than five years.

And, signaling a potential roadblock, not all Republicans agreed with the idea.

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Sen. lincoln houghR-Springfield said the maneuver is another example of the legislature trying to override the will of the people.

“In my opinion, this land has already been plowed,” Hough said.

Groups that supported the 2020 expansion called the effort “an attempt to roll back the clock.”

“Now is not the time to reset the program. Now is the time to focus on the state’s enrollment efforts and manage the program to create value for enrollees and all Missourians. Voters in Missouri have spoken and they want to see Medicaid expansion become a reality. This legislation ignores that fact,” a statement from Healthcare for Missourians said.

No one testified in favor of the proposal during the public comment period of the hearing.

After years of blocking expansion, health care groups circled the Legislature and directly asked voters if they wanted Missouri to join other states in offering health insurance to 275,000 low-income residents.

The measure was approved with 53% of the vote, and after additional court battles and legislative tussles, the expansion of the state’s MO HealthNet program went into effect in October.

The ballot question, if it wins Senate and House approval, would ask voters to allow the program to be subject to annual appropriations by the General Assembly.

It would also require the Missouri Department of Social Services to seek a waiver from the federal government to require adults who receive health care benefits to have jobs.

The work provision would require adults between the ages of 18 and 64 to work or participate in community service programs for 80 hours a month. There would be exemptions for mothers with young children.

And the proposal would end a practice of paying health care costs for people from out of state who are treated in Missouri hospitals.

“You must be a resident of Missouri to qualify for Medicaid,” the House Budget Committee Chairman, Rep. Cody SmithR-Carthage, who sponsors the proposed amendment.

Smith said the rule in the state would save the state about $200 million.

Smith argued that the proposed constitutional change would not necessarily reduce all expansion costs. Rather, he said, it would give lawmakers more flexibility to manage Medicaid spending.

Previous attempts to institute work requirements have failed, and efforts by Republicans in other states to impose the rules have largely failed.

In Arkansas, for example, a work program was halted after nearly a year in 2019.

The work requirement is also expected to win the approval of President Joe Biden’s administration, which announced in February 2021 that it would remove all work waivers granted by the government during the administration of President Donald Trump.

Sen. Denny HoskinR-Warrensburg said the work requirements would ensure able-bodied adults “have some skin in the game.”

“We’re not trying to get a medically fragile person to work,” Hoskins said.

Hough said Smith’s concern about the state’s future finances “doesn’t hold up.”

Shannon County native John Roberts, a semi-retired physician, told the panel that expanding Medicaid will help people in rural Missouri get the medical care they need.

“We have to take care of the people of Missouri,” Roberts said.

Democrats said the overall proposal was another example of Republicans ignoring what the majority of voters support.

“Sometimes voters are smarter than the people they elect,” the senator said. Karla May, D-St. Louis.

The proposed constitutional amendment is Joint House Resolution 117.


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“Missouri voters have spoken and they want to see Medicaid expansion become a reality. This legislation ignores this fact.

Statement on Healthcare for Missourians

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