Medicaid Committees Created

Private citizens and members of the Missouri House of Representatives will work together during the interim to develop policy recommendations to transform Missouri’s system of Medicaid. House Speaker Tim Jones created the Citizens and Legislators Working Group on Medicaid Eligibility and Reform, as well as the House Interim Committee on Medicaid Transformation. The Speaker plans for the two groups to work together to develop legislative proposals that have the potential to make positive transformative changes to the state’s Medicaid system.

In creating the committees Jones said, “We rejected the president’s Medicaid expansion proposal because it represents a massive misuse of taxpayer dollars on a program that provides inferior access to health care and poor health outcomes. We believe a better goal is to reform and transform our system of Medicaid so that it serves as a true safety net by providing our most vulnerable citizens with quality care. It is a goal that cannot be accomplished simply by blindly throwing more money at a broken program.”

The Citizens and Legislators Working Group on Medicaid Eligibility and Reform will travel around the state collecting testimony and research that will then be used by the House Interim Committee on Medicaid Transformation to form policy suggestions. A key component of the working group is that its membership will be determined by suggestions provided by the general public.

While the working group will play a pivotal role in obtaining the information to thoroughly analyze Missouri’s existing Medicaid system, the House Interim Committee on Medicaid Transformation will do the heavy lifting in regard to translating the data and analysis into effective policy solutions.  The Speaker said he is confident the two groups will be able to work together to develop simple, commonsense steps that can move our state toward a Medicaid system that ably serves Missouri’s most vulnerable citizens.