Mo. nurses endorse Medicaid ballot initiative

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Mo. nurses endorse Medicaid ballot initiative

Fri, 02/21/2020 - 07:29
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JEFFERSON CITY – The state’s largest association of registered nurses supports Missouri Medicaid expansion.

The Missouri Nurses Association is one of more than 120 organizations, so far, to pledge support for the Healthcare for Missouri campaign.

“The expansion would help provide health coverage to more than 230,000 uninsured adults in the state, bring more than $1 billion of our tax dollars home from Washington each year, create thousands of jobs, boost the state’s economy and keep struggling rural hospitals open,” campaign information states.

“As nurses, we are on the front lines of health care delivery in the state of Missouri,” Terry Reese said. She is the association’s board president and a family nurse practitioner in Branson. “So, our members can see firsthand how increased access to health insurance will improve the health, well-being and quality of life for hundreds of thousands of hardworking Missourians.”

Thirty-six other states have moved to expand Medicaid in recent years, including neighboring Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky and Nebraska. Expansion efforts are underway in Kansas and Oklahoma.

“An expansive body of research shows that Medicaid expansion will not just save lives but could also save taxpayers money,” campaign information states.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have shown expansion could save the state more than $1 billion by 2026 by reducing many of the health care costs the state now pays.

Gov. Mike Parson stated publicly that studies can show whatever a person wants them to show.