A long-promised Republican alternative to Medicaid expansion was filed in the Missouri House Tuesday. It’s being touted as “market-based Medicaid."
Under the bill, private insurers would compete to provide coverage for Medicaid recipients, and those recipients could get cash incentives for taking care of their health and avoiding costly medical procedures.
The bill is sponsored by GOP House Member Jay Barnes of Jefferson City.
“Those children have families with incomes sufficient to afford private health insurance, and I think that most people understand that Medicaid ends up with poorer health results than private health insurance,” says Barnes.
The bill would also remove around 44,000 children from the Medicaid rolls.
House Democratic Floor Leader Jake Hummel says he’s disappointed with that provision.
“Certainly they are the most vulnerable, they are the people that we need to be helping first. We seem to be leaving off almost 200,000 Missourians off the health care rolls,” says Hummel. “Clearly, I don’t this this is where we need to be.”
Barnes’ bill would add about 180,000 adults to the Medicaid rolls, but falls short of the 300,000 sought by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon.
