Although a number of states, such as Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming, have proposed some form of Medicaid expansion, it is not likely that Missouri will be added to the list, according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch report.
In fact, Republican legislative leaders consider the issue "a nonstarter" in the next legislative session, according to the report. And Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey (R-St. Charles) told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that expanding Medicaid will not be on the table next year in Missouri, which, after the Nov. 4 election, will have a Republican supermajority in the state legislature once the new session starts.
Still, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) has come out in support of Medicaid expansion, and Medicaid advocates recently showed up at the Missouri Chamber of Commerce & Industry headquarters to discuss strategy, according to the report.
In Missouri, Medicaid funds various healthcare services, including prescription drugs and doctor visits, for about 870,000 residents, and it is estimated that 300,000 Missourians would gain coverage if Medicaid were expanded, according to the report. The federal government would pay 100 percent of the cost for the new participants through 2016.
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