KIRKSVILLE, MO. — Community leaders gathered in Kirksville today to call for Medicaid Expansion.
Representative Nate Walker, former Kirksville Mayor Glen Moritz, and community leaders met with the public to discuss a plan for Medicaid expansion.
The focus of the press conference was on the impact the lack of Medicaid expansion has on Kirksville and the surrounding rural communities.
“I’ve talked to doctors and other health professionals, and hospital administrative staff that encourages me to be open minded and that’s what I am doing,” said Walker.
Due to the older demographic, lower incomes, the fact that rural patients travel more than twice as far for hospital care, Walker and the other speakers believe something must be done soon.
More than 300,000 Missourians fall into the Medicaid coverage gap caused by the state legislature’s decision not to accept federal health insurance exchanges through the affordable care act.
“Before we expand it just to expand it we need to make sure that some reform takes places. A lot of sates have done that, and a lot of other states have tried the block grant program,” said Walker.
A block grant program is a grant from a central government that a local authority can allocate to a wide range of services.
Walker does not expect Medicaid expansion to take place this session.