Legislators “not just putting political concerns ahead of our economy, they’re also endangering the lives of Missourians who would gain coverage”
Jefferson City, Mo. – A new study by Harvard researchers and published on the influential Health Affairs blog shows that the continued refusal of the Missouri General Assembly to act on Medicaid expansion will cost the state untold billions of dollars in federal funding but also endanger the lives of thousands of Missourians. The researchers estimate some 700 Missourians will die each year as a result of not getting the medical treatment they would have if the state had acted to expand the Medicaid program.
Missouri Health Advocacy Alliance Executive Director Andrea Routh says responsibility for these lives lost will rest squarely on the shoulders of state legislators if they do not pass Medicaid expansion soon. “We’ve known for more than a year that many politicians in Jefferson City were content to leave billions of dollars in revenue on the table,” Routh said. “What we didn’t know is just how tragic their choices would be for Missouri families. Now we know and the numbers are staggering.”
The study estimated that failure to expand Missouri’s Medicaid program would result in:
- Women missing 4,086 mammograms and 14,134 Pap smears
- 12,947 diabetics not getting vital medications
- 21,816 Missourians failing to get help with depression
- 7,770 Missourians incurring catastrophic medical expenses
Health Affairs is the nation’s leading journal of health policy research. The report was released January 30 and may be viewed at http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2014/01/30/opting-out-of-medicaid-expansion-the-health-and-financial-impacts/.
“Legislators are not just putting political concerns ahead of our economy, they’re also endangering the lives of Missourians who would gain coverage through Medicaid expansion,” Routh added. “It’s unconscionable on every level.”