Your choice Aug. 4 on expanding Medicaid

Missouri voters go to the polls on Aug. 4 to decide a proposed constitutional amendment to expand Medicaid for an estimated 300,000 low-income residents. It is on the ballot as Amendment 2.
Current COVID-19 circumstances underscore the importance of expanding Medicaid access due to the number of Missourians who have lost jobs during the pandemic. In May, 923,000 Missourians were enrolled in Medicaid – up 75,000 from February.
But those opposed to expansion say Missouri can’t afford the expense. Gov. Mike Parson has been vocally opposed to Medicaid expansion. The Trump Administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the law that made expansion possible, the Affordable Care Act.
If Missouri approves the measure, Missouri will become the 38th state to expand Medicaid. Oklahoma passed the measure in June, the fifth state to do so by a statewide vote (joining Idaho, Maine, Nebraska, and Utah). But the proposal was decided by a slim 1% margin with just seven of 77 counties passing expansion; Oklahoma City and Tulsa effectively decided the outcome.
Proponents of Medicaid expansion present the following “talking points” about the ballot proposal:
• Amendment 2 would allow up to 300,000 more Missourians to have access to healthcare
• More access to healthcare and preventative care means fewer using the ER as their main source of healthcare which improves our state’s health outcomes and eases the financial strain on hospitals
• Amendment 2 will bring $1 billion of our own tax dollars back from Washington D.C. to Missouri
• Expanding Medicaid will help keep rural hospitals open and protect thousands of health care jobs
A study released in June from the Missouri Foundation for Health concludes that Medicaid expansion will create more than 16,000 new jobs annually over its first five years, with nearly 80% of those from outside of the healthcare industry. And 90% of the new jobs would pay more than $15 an hour, with most of the new positions located outside of St Louis and Kansas City.
A 2019 study by the Center for Health Economics and Policy at Washington University in St. Louis shows that Medicaid expansion would save the state as much as $1.3 billion by 2026, with the additional federal dollars offsetting current state health spending.
The Missouri state auditor has also issued a report acknowledging that Medicaid expansion could save the state up to $1 billion dollars a year, given the 900% return on investment that Medicaid expansion would deliver to the state.
Savings would come from the return of more than $1 billion of Missouri tax dollars every year from Washington. While the state would contribute 10% of the expansion costs, it is already spending existing resources for health care services at a far lower federal reimbursement rate.