Medicaid Expansion Update
In Missouri, the debate over Medicaid
expansion has reached the state’s Supreme Court. In August 2020, voters in the
state passed a ballot measure that added to the state’s constitution a requirement
to implement the expansion. During the following legislative session, however,
the Missouri General Assembly refused to provide funding for the expansion and,
as a result, Gov. Mike Parson (R) dropped plans for expanding the program.
The decision to drop the program was quickly challenged in the state’s court
system, and a lower court sided with the state
in June, ruling that the ballot measure was unconstitutional because it attempted
to spend state funds without identifying a funding source. The state’s Supreme
Court began its review of the ruling on July 13.
In contrast, Oklahoma implemented their state expansion
on July 1. Like Missouri, voters in Oklahoma also passed a ballot initiative in
2020 requiring the state to implement the expansion. State officials estimate
that nearly 200,000 people are eligible for Medicaid under the expansion and have
reported that more than 133,000 have been approved for benefits.
Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress are debating several
plans to close the Medicaid gap in the states that have not yet implemented expansion.
The proposed plans include allowing local governments to implement expansion,
requiring the federal government to offer a Medicaid-like plan in holdout states
and offering financial incentives to encourage states to adopt expansion on their own.
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