If negotiations on MO Health Net fall apart these last two days of the legislative session, lawmakers might have a safety net.

MO Health Net, SB 577 , is Governor Blunt’s proposed replacement for Medicaid. The Senate and House have approved very different bills. Negotiations between Senate and House conference committee members this week haven’t gotten very far. Worried they might break down completely, the House has approved an amendment that would extend the sunset for the Medicaid program two years.

Rep. Ryan Silvey (R-Kansas City) has succeeded in placing his amendment on another health bill. Silvey’s amendment would push the sunset back from next year to 2010. Current law calls for the Medicaid program to end in July of 2008. That deadline was put in law to motivate legislators to approve a replacement program. MO Health Net is the governor’s proposal. It places an emphasis on prevention and contains aspects of managed care. The Senate version closely tracks the governor’s proposal. The House version places much less emphasis on managed care and increases reimbursements to doctors and hospitals.

This is the day that something must break on the MO Health Net bill or other options must be considered, such as extending the sunset of the Medicaid program another two years. The session ends tomorrow at six o’clock.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (:60 MP3)