skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Report: Medicaid Expansion Good for MO Businesses, Workers

play audio
Play

Friday, April 25, 2014   

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Medicaid expansion is not a handout to the unemployed – a message some health care and business advocates hope Missouri lawmakers take from a new report.

It finds that more than half of the Missourians who would benefit from the move are workers critical to the state's economy.

Brendan Cossette, director of legislative affairs for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says expanding Medicaid simply makes good economic sense.

"Beyond the clear social benefit, this keeps employees healthy, and healthy employees are happier and more productive – period,” he points out. “That's good for every business' bottom line."

According to the report from consumer advocacy group Families USA, those workers are employed in a broad range of industries, including food service, retail, maintenance, child care and health care support.

Despite broad bipartisan support, some Republican opponents of the Affordable Care Act have been unwilling to bring the Medicaid expansion issue to a vote.

Right now, Medicaid only covers Missouri parents with an annual family income of less than $4,750, and it excludes people without dependent children, no matter how low their income.

Andrea Routh, executive director of Missouri Health Advocacy Alliance, says the report makes clear that expanding Medicaid would serve tens of thousands of Missourians now caught in an unfortunate grey area.

"These are people who work really hard,” she stresses. “They don't make a lot of money, they can't afford insurance coverage on the private market and they don't work for employers who provide coverage."

Under an expanded Medicaid program, Missouri could provide health coverage to residents with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which is roughly $27,000 per year for a family of three.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021