Politics Watch — May 6, 2009
Mo. House rejects health care expansion
Following a highly contentious debate over an appropriations bill that would have expanded state health care coverage to more than 30,000, the Missouri House rejected the measure 75-85, with the vote split along party lines.
In a subsequent vote, the House elected to send the bill back to conference to work up a new agreement.
About half an hour after the vote, Gov. Jay Nixon issued a release denouncing the House vote. The expansion of state health had been one of Nixon's campaign promises:
“Missouri has a 25-year high in unemployment and a little more than one week remaining in the legislative session, yet the Republican-led legislature has done virtually nothing to improve our state’s economy," Nixon said in the release. "By voting today against providing health care to 35,000 Missourians at no extra cost to the state, House Republicans rejected a plan that would have pumped $145 million in new money into our economy at no cost to taxpayers. While this proposal to spur economic growth through health care expansion enjoyed broad bipartisan support in the Missouri Senate, the Missouri House let flawed ideology stand in the way of progress. House Republicans should explain to Missourians immediately why they allowed politics to interfere with our state’s opportunity to make health care more affordable and accessible. Turning down health care is not the way to turn around Missouri’s economy.”
The plan to include the new recipients would have been provided with funds that are normally used to compensate hospitals for visits by uninsured patients, which would have qualified the state for additional federal funds.
A conference committee formed between the House Budget and Senate Appropriations committees had agreed to include the provision. But House Budget Chairman Allen Icet said he wanted to encourage his fellow Republicans to vote against the bill on the floor.
"It puts more people on a dysfunctional and a broken system," Icet said in comments made on the floor, which I obtained from live audio on the House Web site.
