Missouri Medicaid funding imperiled after Senate abruptly adjourns on chaotic final day Jonathan Shorman and Jeanne Kuang, The Kansas City Star
May 14 JEFFERSON CITY The Missouri Senate abruptly adjourned Friday afternoon in the final hours of the legislative session, killing an array of measures and imperiling a tax key to funding the state s Medicaid program.
Senators voted to adjourn after Democrats held off legislative business for hours, angry over what they described as a betrayal by Republican leaders on a deal to renew a tax on medical providers that generates billions each year to power Medicaid.
The fight over the tax began in March over an attempt by the Senate s Conservative Caucus to block Medicaid from covering certain birth control methods. The conflict had resurfaced over the last two months before coming to a head early Friday morning when Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, a Sullivan Republican, voted in favor of the anti-abortion side.
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Gov. Eric Greitens walks away from reporters after making a statement outside the St. Louis Circuit Court building in May 2018. A new bill could institute runoffs for statewide races, including the U.S. Senate contest that Greitens is competing in next year.
Missouri senators threw a curveball in the waning days of the legislative session by offering a plan to have runoff elections for some of the state’s most high-profile contests.
That could have massive implications for the 2022 U.S. Senate race, primarily because it could make it harder for someone like former Gov. Eric Greitens to win.
The Senate early Thursday morning
Medicaid expansion funding not guaranteed as Missouri budget goes to Senate insurancenewsnet.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from insurancenewsnet.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.