Gov. Nixon in Springfield Thursday to Unveil Medicaid Expansion
By: KOLR10 Newsroom
Updated: November 29, 2012
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon is expected to push for an expansion on Medicaid as he tours the state today.
The Democrat will speak at Jordan Valley Community Health Center, 440 E. Tampa St., today at 3 p.m. It's one of several stops across the Show-Me State.
Political leaders say he's likely to quote a new report (conducted partially by the University of Missouri) that a Medicaid expansion would lead to 24,000 new jobs in the state.
On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) said some hospitals in the state will shut down if state legislators don't expand Medicaid under the new federal healthcare program.
McCaskill says rural hospitals will be the most vulnerable.
"One of the reasons they agreed and supported the legislation was because they saw the Medicaid expansion as a way to get at the huge problem they have with under-insured and uninsured care that shows up in the emergency room."
Republican state leaders have said they are not interested in expanding the number of Missourians eligible for Medicaid. McCaskill says our federal tax dollars are going into the program anyway, and fighting against expansion is "dumb."
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