This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, May 21, 2013: Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has sent a letter today to like-minded groups that support the expansion of the state’s Medicaid program, saying that he plans to continue efforts “to bring the dollars Missourians send to Washington back to strengthen Medicaid in Missouri…”
Nixon's letter comes a day after the state's Department of Social Service chief, Alan Freeman, announced he is stepping down. Last week, the official in charge of the state's Medicaid program also quit.
Nixon acknowledged at last Friday’s press conference that, for now, the Republican-led General Assembly doesn’t support the idea of expanding Missouri’s Medicaid rolls, in line with the recommendations of the federal Affordable Care Act.
Missouri Republican legislative leaders dismissed the proposed expansion early on as an unaffordable expansion of government power. The issue was rarely mentioned during the final weeks of the legislative session that ended last Friday.
But Nixon, a Democrat, told allies not to give up. “This temporary setback should not diminish the huge strides we have taken, or weaken the momentum that continues to build,” he wrote.
His allies include about 200 healthcare, civic, religious, business and labor groups.
“Over the last six months, I have stood with you in every corner of the state to make the case for seizing this unique opportunity,” Nixon said. “Together, we built a coalition of more than 200 organizations whose breadth and depth rivaled any in recent memory: medical professionals and law enforcement officers, business leaders and faith groups, Republicans and Democrats all united in support of this cause.”
The plan calls for adding roughly 300,000 Missourians to the rolls, most of them in low-wage jobs that don’t currently provide insurance. The federal government would pick up the entire cost for three years, beginning in 2014, and up to 90 percent thereafter.
The proposed expansion would cover Missourians who earn less than 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level – or $32,500 a year for a family of four.
Pressure on legislators was eased when it was announced several months ago that the federal government has delayed by at least a year its plans to end the payments to hospitals to cover their treatment of the uninsured. Without the payments, some rural hospitals have said they will close.
However, Herb B. Kuhn -- president and chief executive of the Missouri Hospital Association -- warned in several op-eds over the weekend that hospitals around the state will still feel the financial impact of the General Assembly's decision.
"Already, Missouri health care providers are assessing areas in which to reduce or eliminate services because of federal funding shortfalls caused by this year’s inaction in Jefferson City," Kuhn wrote. "It will be an anxious summer that has implications for a grim fall and winter."
Nixon, meanwhile, contends that “momentum will continue to build for strengthening Medicaid in Missouri.”
“Please join me in the coming days, weeks, and months and continue to educate your neighbors, colleagues and elected representatives,” he continued. “Let them know strengthening Medicaid is the smart business decision that will strengthen our economy. Let them know that you want your tax dollars spent in your community, not in some other state. And let them know that making it easier for hundreds of thousands of working Missourians to get basic health care is simply the right thing to do.”
