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PRESS RELEASE: FAITH AND COMMUNITY LEADERS CALL ON LEGISLATORS TO CLOSE THE COVERAGE GAP, PASS MEDICAID EXPANSION IN 2015 SESSION

FAITH AND COMMUNITY LEADERS CALL ON LEGISLATORS TO CLOSE THE COVERAGE GAP,  PASS MEDICAID EXPANSION IN 2015 SESSION

Jefferson City– Faith leaders, community leaders and concerned Missourians gathered at the Capitol Plaza Hotel Tuesday night, on the eve of the 2015 legislative session, to demand that the General Assembly close the health insurance coverage gap in Missouri by expanding Medicaid eligibility for almost 300,000 Missourians.

Convening at the same location as the Governor’s prayer breakfast Wednesday morning, faith leaders declared Medicaid expansion a moral issue and a moral imperative for the Missouri legislature this year. Among faith leaders present, more than one shared personal testimony about how their lives have been directly impacted by legislators failure to expand Medicaid and provide affordable healthcare coverage for uninsured Missourians.

Rev. Emmett Baker (Beth-El Baptist Church, St. Louis) shared the story of his daughter who worked a minimum wage job that did not give enough hours to qualify for benefits but the salary caused her to have too much income to receive Medicaid in Missouri. Rev. Baker’s daughter died as a result of not having affordable access to healthcare.

Rev. Baker shared “I know that there will be other parents burying their child and seeing loved ones suffer needlessly. Legislators, it is time to show us your moral convictions!! Show us that you care that hospitals, clinics and ambulance services are being cut back and denied to those in our rural areas. Show us that you know that Missouri lives matter. Show us before more lives are lost. Show us by voting to pass Medicaid expansion now!”

Rev. Doyle Sager (First Baptist Church, Jefferson City)  called on Missouri legislators “who work for us, and who all have health insurance, to wake up and hear the call of God on their lives, to hear the cry of Missourians who are suffering without access to healthcare. Every day our lawmakers do NOT act for Medicaid expansion, they have made a moral choice–a choice to deny dignity, health and life to the most vulnerable in Missouri. This is not a political game–lives are at stake!”

The press conference was facilitated by Ms Rhonda Perry with Missouri Rural Crisis Center, and also featured remarks from Rev. Martin Rafanan, Co-chair of St. Louis Jobs with Justice Worker’s Rights Board of St. Louis.

Approximately 300,000 Missourians fall in the ‘Medicaid coverage gap’ where they make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to qualify for subsidies offered by the Affordable Care Act.

Since 2013, a diverse group of stakeholders, including the faith, community, labor, rural, health and youth groups, have advocated for Medicaid expansion through the Missouri Medicaid coalition.  


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