Missouri Supreme Court could decide to expand Medicaid benefits to include 275,000 more residents
JEFFERSON CITY — The legal effort to expand Missouri's Medicaid program will head directly to the state's highest court after being appealed.
An attorney representing three women suing the state to receive Medicaid benefits, Chuck Hatfield, wrote on Twitter Friday that the Missouri Supreme Court had scheduled arguments for the case on July 13 at 11 a.m. The hearing will come weeks after a circuit court judge ruled that the state was not required to expand Medicaid under a voter-approved constitutional amendment enacted last year.
Hatfield and Lowell Pearson, another attorney representing the women, said after the initial circuit court hearing they expected the case to be appealed all the way to the Missouri Supreme Court.
The July 13 hearing will be another crucial step in a high-stakes case — one that will eventually determine whether roughly 275,000 low-income Missourians are eligible to receive health care benefits and services. It will also review Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem's ruling that Amendment 2, approved by 53 percent of voters last year, was unconstitutional because it didn't designate funding for the program's expansion.
Read more: https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/28/missouri-supreme-court-hear-case-medicaid-expansion-legislature-july-2021-low-income-residents/5372021001/
(Springfield News-Leader)