Nixon administration: Mo. could gain from Medicaid

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Democratic Governor Jay Nixon's administration is bolstering his plan to expand Missouri's Medicaid program with an analysis estimating that it could save the state money in the near future.

   Figures released this past week by Nixon's budget office show Missouri could see a nearly $47 million increase in general revenues during the first year of the Medicaid expansion in 2014. That boost in state revenues would grow to nearly $140 million in 2016 before beginning to decline.

   As called for under President Barack Obama's health care law, the federal government would pay the full cost the first three years of the Medicaid expansion before states gradually pick up a 10 percent share.

   Missouri's Republican legislative leaders have cited concerns about long-term costs while expressing opposition to the Medicaid expansion.