KCUR Rev. Vernon Howard, president of the Kansas City chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, urged Missouri Medicaid expansion supporters to continue to fight. Medicaid expansion supporters say Republicans' refusal to implement the constitutional amendment will result in delays of health care for Missourians in need. A day after Missouri Gov. Mike Parson declined to implement a voter approved constitutional amendment to expand the state’s public health insurance program, myriad supporters of the plan vowed to keep up the fight. In Kansas City and across the state, health care advocacy groups gathered to express support for expanding Medicaid, which had been slated to begin on July 1 and provide health care coverage to an additional 271,000 Missouri residents.