Politics

Mo. Senate, House Committees Defeat Medicaid Expansion Plans

St. Louis Public Radio | By Kelsey Proud,

The Associated Press (394), Marshall Griffin

Published March 13, 2013 at 3:46 PM CDT

A Republican-led Missouri Senate committee has defeated a plan to expand Medicaid under President Barack Obama's health care law.

The Senate Appropriations Committee rejected the legislation on a party-line vote Wednesday, just minutes after hearing testimony from more than two dozen witnesses in favor of the plan.

A Republican-led House committee defeated a similar bill last month in the same fashion.

DemocraticGov. Jay Nixon has been traveling the state trying to rally support for a plan that would add an estimated 260,000 adults to Missouri's Medicaid rolls by raising the eligibility threshold. It would be fully funded by the federal government for the first three years, with the state gradually picking up a share of the cost after that.

Republicans have expressed concerns about the potential long-term costs.

Meanwhile, the Missouri House budget committee rejected two amendments that would have expanded Medicaid. Republican Rick Stream of Kirkwood chairs the committee.

“We don’t like to expand government for the most part," Stream said. "There’s a worry about what the federal government has promised, verses what it will deliver...they say for the first three years, a hundred percent – who’s to say it’s gonna be a hundred percent next year?”

Democrats, meanwhile, may try again to expand Medicaid when the state budget is debated on the House floor in two weeks.

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Kelsey Proud

Kelsey Proud is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, where she earned a Convergence (Multimedia) Journalism degree. She has worked at PBS Interactive in Washington, D.C., MSN UK News in London and is a social media enthusiast. Kelsey feels journalism is truly a public service and hopes her work enhances community and reaches those who need information most. Though she's "from" Chicago, Kelsey has also lived in several different regions of the United States, including periods of time in North Carolina, Ohio, New Mexico and Illinois. Her extended family has roots in Boone and Audrain counties in Missouri, too. She is a wannabe chef and globe trekker, former competitive golfer and band-ie (trumpet), and honorary Missourian.

See stories by Kelsey Proud

The Associated Press (394)

See stories by The Associated Press (394)

Marshall Griffin

St. Louis Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a native of Mississippi and proud alumnus of Ole Miss (welcome to the SEC, Mizzou!). He has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off an old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Liberty Belle, and their cat, Honey.