KBIA A sign urges lawmakers to fund Medicaid expansion at a rally in support of the program at the capitol in Jefferson City on April 27, 2021.
The future of voter-approved Medicaid expansion in Missouri is uncertain. After the legislature declined to provide funds he requested to cover the expansion population, governor Mike Parson announced the state would not offer coverage to the estimated 250 thousand newly eligible Missourians. Now, a lawsuit filed on behalf of three people eligible under expansion, hopes to force his hand. Lowell Pearson is one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs and he joined the health and wealth desk to talk about the case.
Sebastián Martínez Valdivia Health Reporter
Sebastián Martínez Valdivia is a health reporter and documentary filmmaker who focuses on access to care in rural and immigrant communities. A native Spanish speaker and lifelong Missouri resident, Sebastián is interested in the often overlooked and under-covered world of immigrant life in the rural midwest. He has a bachelor s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri and a master s degree in documentary journalism at the same institution. Aside from public health, his other interests include conservation, climate change and ecology.
Three people file lawsuits against Missouri over lack of Medicaid expansion
KMIZ
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Three people have sued the state for not expanding Medicaid eligibility after voters approved a constitutional amendment in August.
The plaintiffs from Fenton, St. Louis and Springfield filed a lawsuit Thursday that seeks to force state leaders to expand the program to cover low-income working adults. The lawsuit names the Missouri Department of Social Services, which runs the state s Medicaid program, MO HealthNet, along with several social services officials.
Gov. Mike Parson s budget included funding for Medicaid expansion. However, the Republican-controlled state legislature decided against funding the expansion. Last week Parson said the state was withdrawing its plans to expand eligibility, saying the amendment that expanded Medicaid is invalid because it didn t include a funding mechanism and the General Assembly didn t appropriate money to pay for expansion.
The least surprising lawsuit of the year, to force Missouri to provide Medicaid coverage to 275,000 people eligible under a 2020 initiative petition, was filed Thursday in Cole County.
Lawsuit seeks to force Missouri to enact voter-approved Medicaid expansion columbiatribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from columbiatribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.