Gov. Blunt claims that his new plan “MO Health Net” which will replace Medicaid is “real reform.” This is ridiculous. Having served for the last four years on the House committee that oversees spending on the Medicaid program and having listened to hundreds of hours of testimony as a member of the Medicaid Reform Commission, I know that we have people who are truly suffering from losing their health insurance. The governor’s plan does nothing to resolve this problem.
The plan makes a special point about that people covered will have a “health care home.” This is nothing more than fancy talk for the common-sense idea that people need a doctor or primary care provider who knows them. But in order to have a “home” you must pay the rent with health insurance coverage. Without health insurance, the uninsured end up using the emergency room instead of seeing their own doctors.
We won’t be fooled. A new name for Medicaid will not distract us from the fact that 177,000 fewer Missourians have health insurance coverage than when the governor took office. For hundreds of thousands of Missourians, the governor’s plan offers only a promise of more misery.
State Rep. Margaret Donnelly
St. Louis