JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Advocates who want to make more Missourians eligible for Medicaid health care are trying to put the issue to a public vote.
The Healthcare for Missouri campaign on Wednesday announced plans to collect more than 170,000 signatures in an attempt to get a Medicaid expansion proposal on the 2020 ballot.
Medicaid is a state and federal health insurance program for children, low-income adults and people with disabilities.
States had the option to extend Medicaid eligibility under former President Barack Obama's federal health insurance program.
But Missouri's Republican-led Legislature has long fought against efforts to do so, arguing that expansion could be expensive and that Medicaid needs to be revamped before it's grown.
