It is hard to qualify for Medicaid as an adult in Missouri. Childless adults aren't eligible for coverage through the state's program — dubbed MO HealthNet — at all, and parents can't make more than 21% of the federal poverty level: $5,400 in 2021 for a family of three.
That was all set to change on July 1 because of a constitutional amendment voters approved last summer that made Missouri the 38th state to expand Medicaid coverage through the Affordable Care Act. Childless adults would be covered if they made under around $17,770.
NPR
Yes!
As many as 275,000 additional Missourians could get coverage — if there's funding for the program. But in the deep-red state, which voted for former President Donald Trump by more than 15 percentage points in 2020, lawmakers are looking to undo the voters' decision.
Who needs democracy?
As it crafts the budget for the next fiscal year, the state legislature has moved to strip funding for Medicaid expansion. Rep. Cody Smith, the Republican chair of the House Budget Committee, separated the money for expansion into its own bill, which the GOP-controlled committee voted down in March.
On the floor of the House last week, Smith said, "Medicaid expansion is wrong for Missouri. I think it's wrong for the state budget."
And yet, Missourians keep electing Republicans!
Smith argued that spending on expansion is irresponsible, even though the federal government covers 90% of the costs for those covered under expansion. Compare that with the 60% of costs Washington covers for current Medicaid recipients.
[...]
Missouri's Republican governor estimated [the state's surplus] at nearly $1.1 billion for the 2021 fiscal year. In addition to an influx in federal aid money, the state saw higher-than-expected revenues, and because it delayed tax collection in 2020, that money rolled over into the current fiscal year, which began in July 2020.
[...]
A large body of research has found a range of budget benefits associated with Medicaid expansion and that opponents' predictions that paying for expansion comes at a cost for other priorities (such as education or transportation) have not happened in other states.
Additionally, the American Rescue Plan Act, which President Biden signed into law last month, compels the federal government to pitch in an extra 5% of costs for new expansion states.
In Missouri, that could amount to $1 billion over the next two years, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
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