State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick and several lawmakers have reiterated their opposition to the expansion of Medicaid in Missouri.
Amendment 2, which would add an estimated over 200,000 people on the Medicaid rolls, will be on the ballot Aug. 4.
Supporters argue that it will lead to lower costs, but opponents, including Fitzpatrick, claim that its expansion will lead to less money for public education, and also alleged that many of those to be covered will not work.
“If this would pass, it would add up to another 300,000 people to a system that’s already strained and is already consuming a massive portion of the state budget, as well as massive portions of the state’s general revenue spending,” Fitzpatrick said at a press conference.
“What we’re talking about is a population that is mostly able-bodied, working-age adults. The state of Missouri already has very generous Medicaid opportunities.”
MO HealthNet currently covers approximately 900,000 people, and it is expected that around 230,000 will be added if the amendment is passed.
According to a study conducted by the Institute of Public Health at Washington University, expanding Medicaid could save the state $39 million in the first year, and by 2024 the state could save a total of $932 million.
The House Budget Committee, in its fiscal analysis, said there is a possible range in cost to expand from an annual expenditure of $200 million to a savings of $1 billion.
Missouri has some of the strictest eligibility requirements in the country, Traci Gleason, of the Missouri Budget Project, told St. Louis Public Radio.
“If you’re not a custodial parent, and you’re not a senior or disabled, you cannot access Medicaid,” Gleason said. “The small sliver of adults that we cover, those custodial parents, we cover at the lowest eligibility level allowed by federal law.”
All adults whose income is less than the 138% of the federal poverty level or below, $17,600 for an individual and roughly $36,000 for a family of four, will not be covered.
Carl Bearden, chief executive of United for Missouri, which took an unsuccessful legal action to block the vote, told the St. Louis Record that proponents of Medicaid expansion were overly optimistic in their projections for savings.
"There is going to be an Increased cost demand on general revenue, and the campaign (against) is going to refer to unrealistic cost savings," Bearden said. "There will be an effort to increase awareness of the negative fiscal impact "