House Democrats have their own thoughts about how the Medicaid program should be reshaped. State Representative Margaret Donnelly (D-St. Louis) says the Democrats will base proposals on a simple principle: that any new plan has to ensure that more Missourians, not fewer receive health care. Democrats also want the legislature to restore Medicaid cuts made in 2005. There are about 100,000 fewer Missourians on Medicaid than in 2005. Donnelly isn’t pleased with the proposals being floated by the Blunt Administration. She doesn’t care much for recommendations of the Medicaid Reform Commission, either, a commission she was a part of that submitted its recommendations last year. Donnelly says the commission missed the mark, because they failed to go back to a fundamental principle; that any plan should cover more people, not fewer. Donnelly says that with the state budget improving, the Medicaid cuts have been proven to be unnecessary.
