Tell Your Legislators NOW: Yes on Medicaid Expansion

The Missouri General Assembly is poised to do something very foolish -- deny healthcare to hundreds of thousands of our friends and neighbors.

Please call your state legislators NOW and tell them that you support Medicaid expansion to 138% of the federal poverty level.  See background information below.

Here's a quick link to find your MO State Representative and Senator.

Legislators are very responsive to these calls; sometimes just one or two calls can make the difference in how they vote!  It's easy; it should take you less than a minute to make your point.  Just state your name, that you live in the district and want them to vote to expand Medicaid to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level.  No need to spend your time explaining your background, reasoning, motivations, etc., unless the staff person you speak with asks.

Thanks!  And tell them the Consumers Council sent you!

Background

The federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) promises to bring health insurance to 20 million uninsured Americans.  Half of that expansion was planned to come from developing a more generous national standard of Medicaid eligibility, instead of the piece-meal state-by-state chaos we have today. More information is on our website, http://moconsumers.org.

Last summer, the Supreme Court ruled that states could make their own decisions about expanding Medicaid.  We at Consumers Council of Missouri believe that this is a vital issue for consumers across MO.  Providing safe and affordable healthcare is a right due all Americans, and we all suffer the consequences when any of us miss out.

We need your help this week to continue advocating for Missouri to expand Medicaid eligibility to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).  House Bill 700 would introduce a number of changes to the state's Medicaid program but will never be implemented because the bill expands eligibility only to 100% of the federal poverty level.  Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of the Health and Human Services Department has made it clear that states will receive Medicaid reimbursement only if they provide service to people with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level – nothing less.  Without this, Missouri’s bill is meaningless.

The Missouri House Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability is planning to vote on HB 700 on Tuesday April 2.

Our hope is that the committee itself would amend the bill and adjust the eligibility percentage appropriately.  If the committee fails to make that change, the change could still be made when the bill is debated on the House floor. But it will never get to the House floor if the committee votes it down on April 2.

HB 700 has many flaws, but it is the most viable way for the Missouri Legislature to expand Medicaid to more Missourians.  It needs to stay alive.

Below are the members of the committee.  If you know anyone in the districts of the committee members, please tell them to call too.

House Committee: Government Oversight and Accountability
Barnes, Jay, Chair  (R-Jeff City)
Parkinson, Mark, Vice Chair  (R-St. Peters, St. Charles)
Flanigan, Tom  (R-Joplin)
McManus, Kevin  (D-KC)
Messenger, Jeffrey  (R-Springfield)
Mitten, Gina  (D-Richmond Heights)
Molendorp, Chris  (R- KC)
Pierson, Tommie  (D-STL)
Richardson, Todd  (R-Poplar Bluff)

More Information

We need to expand Medicaid in Missouri. In this tough economy, more Missourians than ever are out of jobs and many are single parents making barely enough to survive, let alone support a family. Under the national health reform law, Missouri has an opportunity to expand Medicaid to provide health insurance to single parents and childless adults who earn up to 133% of the federal poverty level, or about $25,000 for a family of three. Taking advantage of this expansion is both the right thing to do for Missouri Consumers and the smart thing to do for our State.

Expanding Medicaid is the Right Thing to Do:

• Being able to see a doctor is a right, not a privilege. Working families should have the right to receive basic medical care when they need it, but tens of thousands of working Missourians can’t qualify for basic health care, and 877,000 currently have no health insurance at all. That’s why Consumers Council of Missouri  is working to expand Medicaid coverage to help insure those who need it the most, like families with children who are working hard to make ends meet. Now is not the time for Missouri to start neglecting its working families.
• Medicaid saves lives and prevent thousands of deaths every year in Missouri. Expanding Medicaid will help allow 255,000 more hardworking Missourians who earn just a fraction of the federal poverty line to purchase insurance. A recent study shows that expanding coverage could even save the lives of as many as 6% of the people who enroll.
• Missouri currently makes it harder than almost any other state to qualify for Medicaid. Under today’s rules, a single mother of two can’t qualify for basic health care through Medicaid if she makes anything more than $3,504 per year – just 18% of the poverty line. That's just wrong.
• More than 877,000 Missourians are uninsured.  This devastates families, weakens our communities and overburdens our hospitals.  Since the general assembly cut health care benefits for low-income families in 2005, there are now over 877,000 uninsured—that’s one in every seven Missourians. Expanding Medicaid saves Missouri money in the long run and would help allow 255,000 more hardworking Missourians who earn just a fraction of the federal poverty line to purchase insurance. A recent study shows that expanding coverage could even save the lives of as many as 6% of these new enrollees.
• Missouri spends hundreds of millions on tax breaks for big corporations – including insurance companies – that are making record profits. If we’ve got the money to pad corporate bank accounts, we’ve got the money to invest in making sure all of our neighbors have access to health care – especially the low-income working families who need it most.

Expanding Medicaid is the Smart Thing to Do:

• Expanding Medicaid will save hundreds of millions of dollars for Missouri in the long run.  If we don’t expand Medicaid, Missouri hospitals could lose nearly $400 million in funding this year alone. This would force 40 to 50 percent of our state’s rural hospitals to close. In fact, losing these hospitals—and the thousands of jobs they create—means it would probably cost Missouri taxpayers more NOT to take the Medicaid expansion. Expanding with federal dollars will allow Missouri to focus on important priorities like education and public safety.
• Expanding Medicaid means thousands of good jobs in Missouri – more than 24,000 in the first year, according to a new study by the University of Missouri.
• Choosing not to expand Medicaid force 40-50% percent of our state’s rural hospitals to close. If this happens, tens of thousands of Missourians will be left without a local hospital, leaving both the insured and uninsured with fewer options and resulting in further overcrowding of our remaining hospitals.
• Expanding Medicaid is affordable for Missouri, with the state paying nothing for the first three years. The national health care reform law provides more than $8 billion for Missouri, meaning our state won’t have to pay anything until 2017 and only 10% of the expansion costs after that.

Missourian consumers want action to ensure access to affordable health care.  Today, 877,000 Missourians don’t have insurance, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We can act now to expand Medicaid so more working families and persons with disabilities can qualify. Doing so will create thousands of new jobs, and save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most importantly, it will save lives and make sure our hard-working neighbors are able to see a doctor. It's the right thing to do, and the smart thing to do for Missouri consumers.