Kansas City Democrat: No matter what Republicans say, there is plenty of money to fund Medicaid expansion

(From Rep. Ingrid Burnett, D-Kansas City)

On April 15, the MO House voted 143-1-4 in favor of HB 21 which appropriates $342.26 million to redistribute the revenue that Governor Parson had recommended for covering Medicaid expansion costs. 

Instead of using the funds as Governor Parson recommended for the constitutionally mandated program, House Bill 21 seeks to use that spending authority for various other programs that enjoy wide support. 

In this way, the House Republican Leadership is attempting to make you believe that we can only do one or the other. 

The truth is there has been robust general revenue collections and there will be a massive influx of federal economic stimulus funds, and thus Missouri has sufficient revenue to fund those items and implement Medicaid expansion that will take effect on July 1. 

Under the federal Affordable Care Act, the federal government will pay 90 percent of the cost of expansion, or about $1.4 billion for FY 2022. 

In addition, Missouri would receive an additional $1.5 billion under the most recently passed COVID-19 relief bill for implementing expansion. Such a large influx of spending is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs and have a tremendous economic impact on the state. 

Because of the economic benefits, Republican Gov. Mike Parson, a longtime expansion opponent, called for fully funding Medicaid in the FY 2022 budget, and Senate Republican leaders have sent mixed messages about whether they will restore full Medicaid funding in the primary budget bills, which currently are pending in the chamber. 

Now, Lawmakers have until a May 7 constitutional deadline to pass a final budget. If Medicaid expansion funding isn’t included, a lawsuit seeking to force the state to follow the constitution is considered guaranteed.