We are pleased to share a message from Judy Dungan, Director of Policy and Advocacy with the Missouri Children’s Leadership Council:

The Senate Committee on Seniors, Families and Children may soon act on a bill that would dramatically alter Missouri’s Medicaid program. These changes would leave Missouri taxpayers and health services for seniors, people with disabilities and serious mental illness, and children at risk. 
Senate Bill 28 seeks to take federal funds for Medicaid services as a block grant (or a set, capped amount of funds).
As a result, the state of Missouri would be on the hook for any unanticipated spending needs, resulting in either increased costs to the state, or cuts to eligibility or health services for kids, seniors, people with disabilities or serious mental illness, pregnant women, or very low-income parents.

• Block grants generally don’t keep up with increased health care costs, so Medicaid is slowly cut over time.
• If an economic downturn, health epidemic, or changing demographics increase health care costs, Missouri won’t get additional federal support.
• If Missouri’s costs exceed the amount in the block grant, it will have to use its own funds to make up the difference – or cut health services or eligibility for thousands of Missourians.

While Medicaid’s current financing structure is nimble and can respond to the economy or changing demographics, Senate Bill 28 leaves thousands of Missourians vulnerable to dramatic health care cuts and puts Missouri at financial risk.
The members of the Senate Committee can be found here.
Please contact them immediately and ask them to vote NO on SB 28: http://bit.ly/AA-SB28

For more background information, you can access all of the Missouri Budget Project’s related resources, as well as those prepared by partners, at the following website:
http://www.mobudget.org/medicaid/
Best,
Judy Dungan,
Missouri Children’s Leadership Council
Director of Policy and Advocacy

Purpose of Missouri Children’s Leadership Council

The Missouri Children’s Leadership Council’s purpose is to create a powerful voice to speak out for children. Its goal is to assure that Missouri’s public policy supports broad child/youth well-being, as well as the welfare of children and youth who are at risk because of poverty, abuse/neglect or other risk factors.
What we Seek

We want Missouri to rank first among states in child well-being indicators.  We want to have the capacity to shape and define the debate about what is good for children, and to be able to work collectively across multiple systems (legislative, administrative, and building public will in the broader community) in partnership with funders, business and civic leaders, and other human service providers