Bill would provide economic benefits to state while improving medical care access
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – State Rep. Randy D. Dunn, D-Kansas City, today filed legislation to expand Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act, which would allow Missouri to leverage billions of dollars in additional federal health care spending to create thousands of new jobs and spur economic growth while extending medical coverage to roughly 300,000 Missourians.
Under the federal Affordable Care Act, the state can expand its Medicaid eligibility threshold to 138 percent of the federal poverty level – an annual income of $32,500 for a family of four or $15,856 for an individual – and the federal government will pay the full cost of the expansion until 2017 and at least 90 percent of the cost thereafter.
“With Medicaid expansion, we have an opportunity to both give a much-needed jolt to the state economy while helping thousands of working Missourians who have been priced out of the health system,” Dunn said. “Because the legislature has been tardy in embracing expansion, Missouri has already left billions in federal funding on the table. This simply cannot continue.”
Expansion is supported by all of the state’s main business organizations and medical groups, including the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Associated Industries of Missouri and the Missouri Hospital Association.
Dunn’s legislation is House Bill 2457.
