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Mo. Gov. Nixon open to Medicaid alternative

Jay Nixon
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KBIA

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is continuing to push for a Medicaid expansion, but he's open to alternatives that could use federal money to buy private insurance for lower-income adults.

Nixon said in an interview Thursday that he's willing to consider an Arkansas model that would use Medicaid money to purchase policies through an online insurance exchange created under President Barack Obama's health care law.

The 2010 law called for states to expand Medicaid to adults whose income reaches up to 138 percent of the poverty level, or $32,500 for a family of four. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year made that optional for states.

Republican legislators have rejected Nixon's plan. But Nixon says he hopes for a compromise.

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