Missouri GOP Blocks Medicaid Expansion Approved by Voters Because Rural Citizens Voted Against It

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Newsweek

Daniel Villarreal 5 hrs ago

Republican legislators in Missouri have blocked a bill that would fund a voter-approved expansion of Medicaid. One legislator said she opposed the bill because only one in three rural voters supported the bill.

State voters approved the expansion in an August 4, 2020 vote by a margin of 53.2 to 46.7 percent. The vote added an amendment to the state constitution making Medicaid available to people between the ages of 19 and 65 as long as their income is at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The expansion would cover an estimated 230,000 individuals and has a July 1 deadline for implementation.

$130 million in state funds and $1.6 billion in federal funds. However, 20 Republican legislators in the House Budget Committee opposed it as too costly. Comparatively, nine committee Democrats voted for it.

Urban and suburban voters largely approved the Medicaid expansion, as did was nearly a third of the rural voters. Without the roughly 102,000 rural voters who supported the amendment in August 2020, it would've failed.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/missouri-gop-blocks-medicaid-expansion-approved-by-voters-because-rural-citizens-voted-against-it/ar-BB1eYtsy?li=BBnb7Kz

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Sarah Walsh

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. OFFS ... bloody fascists ...

Too expensive? Really?

You're chipping in as a state less than 10 freaking % and getting over 90% from the Feds, AND the voters passed it ... but you won't do it?

Assholes

[elleng]

2. 'Miserable' rural 'voters' victims of repug propaganda.

[SWBTATTReg]

3. So the vote of the majority that still voted for this is being ignored? Since when does the

minority win?

[elleng]

4. When we master/counter repug propaganda.

[SWBTATTReg]

22. The sad thing is that they did this too, in ignoring Missourians passing a measure for animal

rights, etc. and the GOP ignored it too. They said that it hurt farmers etc. Which is BS.

[Solly Mack]

5. Will of the...scratch that...Will of certain people.

[modrepub]

6. Suburban and Urban Pay The Taxes

and Rural gets to choose where those taxes go. You don't have to guess where they go because the folks making the decisions certainly aren't going to take more than they contribute, right?

Dems continue to be blind to this. Why are local taxes so burdensom in suburban areas? Because those folks want a functioning government system that takes care of its citizens. So they have to hike their taxes to make up for state and federal taxes being diverted to rural areas. Then they get hit with the tax and spend mantra. Wise up folks or you're going to get you heads handed to you, again.

[Roy Rolling]

7. Great Point

Often overlooked, but so important. It’s easy for Republicans to control vast swaths of land because nobody lives on it. And because nobody lives on that vacant and sparsely-populated land, their tax contributions are vacant and sparse, too.

[bucolic_frolic]

8. "Too costly" to who? To the citizens who die without health care?

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. parents must currently have an income under *18%* of poverty level to qualify

Missouri’s Medicaid program does not currently cover most adults without children. Only the disabled, children and parents with incomes under 18% of federal poverty level — less than $5,800 a year for a family of four — are eligible. It is one of the lowest eligibility thresholds in the nation. The expansion will allow adults earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level to be covered.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article250170945.html

Holy shit, that's not just poor, that's living on the street.

[Vinca]

10. So votes don't count anymore. That's what it boils down to. It's no longer states,

it's fiefdoms. Hope this gets challenged in the courts.

[Layzeebeaver]

11. So rural voters are 2/3rds more important than all other voters?

Oh sorry, except if it's a black rural voter - then it's likely even less important in the eyes of the GQP.

Let's not even discuss a black democratic rural voter...

Godamn I hate republicans - even the moderate ones.

[PSPS]

24. Not many rural blacks. That's the business model behind the "FarmersOnly" dating site.

[Layzeebeaver]

25. Hilarious!

unfortunately, the Missouri GOP is not.

[Lonestarblue]

12. Republicans are getting brazen at overturning the will of voters.

The Florida legislature overturned a voter referendum to allow ex-felons to vote simply by demanding that all past fees owed be paid first, which sounds like a poll tax but was allowed to stand. What gives the Missouri legislature the legal right to ignore its voters? Aren’t such things binding?

Georgia just passed their voter restriction laws, one of which sounds as though it allows the GOP legislature final say in the vote count. They’re basically saying that if they don’t win the vote, they’ll just overturn the voters’ choices.

I hope people are ready to sue. This is getting way beyond crazy. I wish we could trust the Supreme Court more. They have already protected Republican gerrymandering by refusing to address it, and they decimated part of the Voting Rights Act, so who knows how they would respond to the state choosing winners instead of the voters.

[jonstl08]

18. Not the first time.

This is the third time they have done this.

[Mysterian]

13. A crime against the people of Missouri

When will people stop electing these scum republicans?

[sinkingfeeling]

14. So much for democracy.... we now have minority rule.

[hatrack]

15. But they Owned Teh Libs Huhhuhhuh! Huhhuhhuhhuhhuh!!

Take that, you evil city dwellers! We, the virtuous rural people, will dictate your lives.

Fucking assclowns.

[mountain grammy]

16. because republicans want people to die.. very simple.

[area51]

19. +1

We need healthcare as a basic right in the US.

[jonstl08]

17. Been expecting it

Being a resident here this does not surprise me. This is at least the third time they overrode the will of the voters and passed legislation against what the voters approved. First was the concealed gun permit law, next was the law outlawing puppy mills, and now this. Each of these were popular in the cities of St. Louis, KC and Columbia but rural voters hated them. So they listen to the rural people only.

Fully expect them to try to override next the right to work law which was passed by the legislature in 2016 but the voters fought back and nullified the law in 2018 with over 70% of the people voting to override what the legislature did.

[lagomorph777]

20. So let the rural voters lose their health care.

Let the sensible people get what they voted for.

We need to ban the GQP permanently.

[pnwmom]

21. IOW they're giving mostly white voters veto power over mostly Black voters. n/t

[rickyhall]

23. 2/3rds of The People want marijuana legalized. Is it? No. So much for majority rule.