Call your Members of Congress using this call-in # 866-426-2631 to urge them to protect MO HealthNet and other health care programs that keep people healthy in the budget reconciliation process. 

Talking Points & Tips

Medicaid is health insurance coverage funded by the federal government and the states for children and adults with low-incomes, pregnant women, seniors, and people with disabilities.

Under these proposed changes, Congress may cut up to a third of Medicaid funding over the next ten years – a $2.5 trillion funding cut. The proposed cuts will:

• Shift costs from the federal government to states, now or in the future.
• Limit the ability of states to raise health care funds to support Medicaid.
• Impose further restrictions or obstacles to coverage, like work requirements, limiting eligibility.

In Missouri, federal funding covers 65% of the cost of Medicaid in Missouri, providing vital revenue that stabilizes Missouri’s entire state budget, including non-health care services. As a result, cuts or changes to the Medicaid funding will put extra burdens on our state budget, including in critical areas like K-12 education, and will negatively impact access to health care and affordability.

In Missouri, cuts to Medicaid could take away coverage from:

• Nearly two in five children – nearly half of the children living in rural Missouri.
• One in eight adults aged 19-64, and the majority are working in jobs that do not provide access to affordable health insurance.
• Nearly 100,000 older adults, 9% of Missouri seniors, are covered by Medicaid
• More than 120,000 adults under the age of 65 with a disability.
• 2/3 of all nursing home care.
• At least 38% of births in the state

Medicaid is an economic issue for Missourians.

• Medicaid helps Missourians be healthy so they can work to support their families.
• When people are insured, they can afford to get the care they need before it turns into a more serious health problem that would send them into medical debt.
• Medicaid covers nursing and home care for older adults that would otherwise be unaffordable for most families.
• Medicaid provides vital services that enable older adults and people with disabilities to live independently in their homes for as long as possible, instead of being forced into a nursing home.
• More uninsured Missourians also means more uncompensated costs, which must be absorbed locally and by providers and taxpayers. That means higher health care costs for all of us.

Medicaid is a lifeline for rural Missourians.

• More than one in four rural Missourians, including more than half of rural children, depend on Medicaid for health insurance.
• Medicaid fills gaps in coverage for rural Missourians who tend to have limited access to higher paying jobs that provide health insurance.
• Medicaid helps rural health care providers stay afloat, creating critical jobs in Missouri’s rural communities and ensuring that providers are available to care for residents using both Medicaid and private insuranc

Medicaid provides vital access to health care for Missourians.

• Missourians covered by Medicaid are more likely to get preventive care, better manage chronic disease, and access lifesaving cancer treatment early.
• Children covered by Medicaid miss fewer school days, perform better in school, are more likely to finish high school, and earn more as adults than their peers without coverage.
• Medicaid increases early-stage cancer diagnoses, and provides access to timely cancer prevention, screenings and treatment.
• Medicaid improves access to timely primary and behavioral health care, which is key to families being able to stay safely together and out of the foster care system, which also reduces state costs.

• Congress should oppose cuts that would [your key message, i.e. “take care away from cancer patients,” “take away healthcare access from rural communities,” etc.]
• Share concrete examples of how you, someone you care about or the people you serve benefit from Medicaid:
  • The economic impact of Medicaid in your community – the jobs supported by Medicaid
  • What would happen if you or someone else could not get Medicaid services.
  • How Medicaid services help you or someone else live at home instead of in an institution.
  • How Medicaid services help you or someone else be healthy and able to attend school or work as a result.