The state senate might have pounded the last nail in the coffin of Medicaid expansion. It happened late last night at the capitol.
The Senate has approved its part of the $23-billion state budget for the fiscal year starting July first. And Medicaid expansion, a top priority of Governor Nixon’s, is not included.
An effort was made to put almost 900-million federal Medicaid expansion dollars into the budget, Senator Jamilla Nasheed of St. Louis calling it a human rights issue the legislature does not want to address.
But Senator Rob Schaaf of Joseph says it’s really the “biggest money grab in Missouri history,” and a chance for hospitals to get even richer because of the formula that would be used for new Medicaid payments.
Senate appropriations chairman Kurt ?Schaefer noted the expansion would not keep the prevent the current Medicaid program from growing. He says the state has had to take tens of milions of dollars from schools and colleges to meet the costs of the current Medicaid program.
The House also has left Medicaid Expansion out of its version of the budget, meaning there’s no chance Missouri will get into the program this year.
