JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – With three weeks left in this year’s legislative session, Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon rolled out his latest proposal to use federal dollars to expand Medicaid in Missouri.
On Monday, Nixon visited Cape Girardeau to announce a proposal called “Missouri Health Works,” which would offer state aid to help small businesses with fewer than 150 employees to provide health insurance. The proposal would leverage Medicaid dollars to assist employees making less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level with up to 60 percent of their insurance premiums.
In announcing the proposal, Nixon took the opportunity to jab the federal health care law, which he says is causing small businesses to get “squeezed between sky-high health insurance costs and new requirements under the ACA.” The federal law requires businesses with more than 50 employees to provide insurance or pay a penalty.
“Unfortunately, the Missouri legislature’s inaction on Medicaid has taken this serious problem and made it worse by sending Missourians’ tax dollars to other states,” he said. “There is no reason why small businesses should have to continue to bear all the burdens of the ACA and get none of the benefits. Missouri Health Works is an example of the kind of smart, business-friendly reform that is possible if we move forward and bring Missourians’ tax dollars home.”
According to Nixon’s office, the plan would require employees to take personal responsibility by paying for a share of their health insurance costs and require eligible workers to take advantage of this more cost-effective option rather than enrolling in traditional Medicaid.
Nixon’s idea comes as the debate over Medicaid expansion has stalled in the Republican-controlled legislature. House Majority Floor Leader John Diehl, R-St. Louis, scoffed at the timing of the idea and accused Nixon of not working with the legislature on the issue.
“If he were serious about this, he wouldn’t wait till there were three weeks left in session,” he said. “He should maybe start to engage members of the General Assembly instead of spending state tax dollars on flying down to Cape Girardeau.”
Dan Mehan, president of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce which is pushing Medicaid expansion, said on Monday “this is the first I’ve heard” of Nixon’s latest proposal. Mehan had joined Diehl and other House Republicans in calling for Nixon to enact the legislature’s latest tax cut proposal, Senate Bill 509.
“There is something we could do for small businesses now,” Diehl said, “and that is sign this tax cut.”
Nixon is expected to veto the bill later this week.