HOWELL COUNTY, Mo. — Community leaders will hold a candlelight vigil highlighting the consequences of legislative inaction on Medicaid, and urging Missouri legislators to expand Medicaid before the legislative session ends on May 15.
The event will start as a press conference followed by a luminary display highlighting the consequences of inaction on Medicaid expansion. Beginning on Tuesday, May 12 and 8:00 p.m. at Butler Children’s Park, community members will speak in support of Medicaid expansion.
“We know that uninsured people live sicker and die younger, and studies show that closing the coverage gap would save the lives of 700 Missourians every year. With lives on the line, our state has a moral imperative to close the coverage gap this year,” says Jen Bersdale, Executive Director of Missouri Health Care for All.
Lois Reborne, Board member with Missouri Health Care for All and a resident of West Plains, explains why the vigil is being held: “We are gathering to represent all the people – more than one out of every seven people in Howell County, more than one out of every eight in the seven counties served by Ozarks Medical Center – who are going without adequate healthcare. They are people who know they might be sick but wait months, even years before seeing a doctor, until it is too late. We are gathering Tuesday night to honor their struggle and their pain.”
Crystal Brigman Mahaney, Statewide Grassroots Organizer with Missouri Health Care for All, notes that it is not too late to change the situation for those in the coverage gap.
“Howell County residents continue to urge Senator Mike Cunningham to do the right thing by closing the coverage gap. We look to him to move this bipartisan issue forward and work to expand Medicaid with his colleagues in these final days of session.”
Approximately 300,000 Missourians fall in the ‘Medicaid coverage gap’ where they make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to qualify for subsidies offered by the Affordable Care Act.
Missouri currently has one of the lowest eligibility rates in the country for Medicaid. Under today’s rules, a single mother of two can’t qualify for basic health care through Medicaid if she makes anything more than $3,504 per year – just 18% of the poverty line.
“Medicaid expansion will save the state money and close the coverage gap for our hard working, uninsured neighbors. It will create jobs and strengthen our communities, especially in rural Missouri,” said Michelle Trupiano, Director of the Missouri Medicaid Coalition.
There is bipartisan support for Medicaid expansion in Missouri. Legislators in the Missouri House and Senate have sponsored multiple bills that would provide insurance to Missourians in the Coverage Gap through an expanded Medicaid program. The last day of the Missouri Legislative session is May 15.