Medicaid Expansion Funding Talking Points

Policy April 12, 2021March 28, 2022

Urgent advocacy is needed on Medicaid expansion funding!

Now that the budget bills are in the Missouri Senate, it is critical that Senators hear from their constituents in support of adding Medicaid Expansion funding back into House Bills 10 and 11 (the normal appropriations bills). 

Please ask your Senator for two things:

Below are talking points to help you speak to the importance of Medicaid expansion. Please stay positive in your outreach! You don’t have to use all of the talking points. Feel free to share personal stories, too.

Intro:

Hi Senator ______,

As your constituent, I am calling to encourage you to support Medicaid expansion funding in House Bill 10 and 11. I am also asking you to please reach out to Senator Hegeman in support of this approach and to let him know that you’ll support him on the senate floor.

Supporting messaging:

1. Missourians voted to expand Medicaid in August 2020.
   • The legislature should honor the will of Missouri voters and fully fund this program.
   • Governor Parson included funding for Medicaid expansion is his budget.

2. Medicaid expansion will increase access to health care.
   • Almost 100,000 people are uninsured in the St. Louis region, meaning 1 in 10 do not have health insurance. ¹
   • More than 500,000 individuals in Missouri are uninsured. ¹
   • Medicaid expansion will improve access to health care by providing coverage to more than 230,000 Missourians, including people with chronic diseases, such as diabetes and asthma. ²

3. Medicaid expansion will improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities.
   • Medicaid expansion will improve the health of Missourians, reduce overall mortality, and decrease health disparities among covered populations. ³
   • The nation would have had 15,600 fewer deaths if all states had expanded Medicaid from the start. ⁴
   • Expansion will also reduce disparities in health outcomes. For example, expansion is associated with a significant reduction in disparities for rates of preterm birth (a predictor of infant mortality) for black infants compared with white infants. ⁵

4. Medicaid expansion will save Missouri money and improve our economy.
   • Expansion will bring billions of our tax dollars home from Washington D.C.
   • A study shows that expansion is expected to save Missouri money. ⁶
   • In addition, expansion has positively affected economies of expanded states, particularly for under-resourced communities. 9 
     • Benefits could include increases in average household incomes, State Gross Domestic Product, and available jobs (especially in the health care setting). ^7,8
   • Missouri Budget Project shows that from expanding Medicaid, Missouri can expect additional savings and revenues that were not included in Governor Parson’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2022. 9
   • Missouri will receive $1.15 billion from the federal government over two years if it expands Medicaid. ¹⁰
     • This money comes from the American Rescue Plan’s temporary FMAP increase by 5 percentage points for non-expansion populations.
     • This increased funding for Missouri’s General Revenue would more than cover Medicaid expansion and offset costs for other social services.
   • This extra funding is on top of the temporary 6.2 percentage point FMAP increase implemented through the Families First COVID-19 relief legislation, which is available through the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency. 

Find more advocacy resources about Medicaid expansion here.

Citations

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1. Access to Care 2019 Data Book
2. Kaiser Family Foundation – The coverage gap: uninsured poor adults in states that do not expand Medicaid  
3. Kaiser Family Foundation – The effects of Medicaid expansion under the ACA: updated findings from a literature review  
4. The National Bureau of Economic Research – Medicaid and mortality: new evidence from linked survey and administrative data
5. Kaiser Family Foundation – The effects of Medicaid expansion under the ACA: updated findings from a literature review  
6. Center for Health Economics and Policy, Institute for Public Health at Washington University – Analysis of the Fiscal Impact of Medicaid Expansion in Missouri
7. The Colorado Health Foundation  – Assessing the economic and budgetary impact of Medicaid expansion in Colorado
8. Policy Matters Ohio – Analysis: Ohio Medicaid expansion supports 54,000 jobs
9. Missouri Budget Project – Medicaid Expansion Saves State General Revenue in FY 2022
10. Kaiser Family Foundation – New Incentive for States to Adopt the ACA Medicaid Expansion: Implications for State Spending