WASHINGTON — The Missouri Supreme Court unanimously rejected a challenge to Medicaid expansion in the state, overturning a lower court ruling and paving the way to extend coverage to nearly 300,000 Missourians. The decision comes after Missouri Republicans refused to appropriate funding for the program, even though voters adopted a constitution amendment demanding expansion last year and the federal government picks up 90 percent of the cost.
“This ruling makes it clear — the Missouri GOP must finally fund Medicaid expansion,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Jessica Post. “Republicans are so irrationally angry about extending affordable health care that they ignored a constitutional amendment passed by their own constituents. Those partisan games must end now.”
A pair of recent studies underscored the vast benefits to Medicaid expansion. One found that expanding Medicaid in the holdout states would create over a million jobs and grow those state economies by $350 billion. The other outlined the staggering medical debt burden in the United States, which is disproportionately concentrated in the states that still haven’t passed expansion.
Republicans across the country continue to double down on their misguided opposition to Medicaid expansion, despite new incentives in the American Rescue Plan. Democrats in Congress recently introduced new legislation that would bypass state governments entirely and finally extend affordable coverage to millions of Americans.
###
