COLUMBIA, Mo. — House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, told a gaggle of supporters and reporters in Columbia Thursday afternoon that he was forming a special commission — made up of legislators and citizens — to study Medicaid during the interim time between legislative sessions.
The announcement comes after the first legislative session in which Missouri debated expanding Medicaid eligibility to individuals making 138 percent of the federal poverty level, as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. Jones announced the committee just hours after the move was made official while Jones was in the Capitol for some official bill signings during his week-long tour.
Jones encountered protestors from the Missouri Medicaid Coalition at the tour event in Columbia Thursday, as well as days before in Springfield. A representative from the coalition said they also planned to bring signs and chants to his events later this week in Cape Girardeau and Eureka.
Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, who played a key role for Republicans during the legislative session in combating Democratic efforts to expand Medicaid, will head the commission. Jones praised Barnes for his work on the issue, but leaned away from expansion.
“The problems [with Medicaid] facing our state are a lot greater than simply putting a billion dollar band-aid on a broken system,” Jones told reporters before chiding Gov. Jay Nixon for his lackluster support of expansion before the session began. “If Gov. Nixon ran on Medicaid expansion last year, I think a lot of us would have been more prepared to tackle the issue down the road, but he didn’t mention it last year during his campaign. He caused us all to be a little behind the eight ball.”
A few hours after Jones’ announcement, Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, sent out a press release saying he has created the Interim Senate Committee on Medicaid Transformation and Reform in order to study the state’s options and look at what other states are doing.
Dempsey announced that Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington, as the chairman of the committee.
“We want to have a better understanding of what is really happening across the country with the Affordable Care Act,” Dempsey said in the release. “We need to do what’s best for our state. The interim committee will be able take a good look at Missouri’s Medicaid program and see what ideas to improve efficiency and delivery can be implemented here at home.”
To contact Collin Reischman, email collin@themissouritimes.com, or via Twitter at @Collin_MOTimes.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
