Missouri AFL-CIO, businesses, health care advocates support ‘Yes on 2’ for Medicaid expansion

Jefferson City, MO – Organized Labor, business leaders, patient advocates and faith leaders are coming out in support of “Yes on 2” for Medicaid expansion in Missouri.

Nearly 300 organizations to date have endorsed the Amendment 2 ballot initiative to provide hardworking Missourians and their families with access to healthcare.

“The Yes on 2 campaign is humbled both by the sheer volume of support and the expansive coalition that transcends party politics, racial lines, the rural-urban split and other labels that divide rather than unite,” said campaign manager A.J. Bockelman.

“Our partners recognize the urgency of Medicaid expansion to protect frontline healthcare jobs, help keep endangered rural hospitals open, boost our state’s economy and generate additional jobs during our ongoing economic crisis.”

The Yes on 2 Medicaid Expansion Coalition includes:

• Missouri AFL-CIO.
• AARP, the nation’s leading advocacy organization for those aged 50 and older.
• The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the state’s leading business voice.
• Missouri’s primary emergency medical services (EMS) organizations, including the Ambulance District Association of Missouri; the Missouri Ambulance Association; and the Missouri Emergency Medical Services Association.
• Thirteen national patient advocacy groups, including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association and American Lung Association.

CREATE MORE THAN 16,000 JOBS
An independent study by economic analysts on behalf of the Missouri Foundation for Health projects that Medicaid expansion will create more than 16,000 jobs annually in the program’s first five years, with nearly 80 percent of the job growth outside of the healthcare industry – and most of the new jobs generated outside Missouri’s big cities.

On a yearly average, Missouri would see a $2.5 billion increase in economic output and a $1.6 billion boost in gross domestic product. Average personal income would grow by $1.1 billion annually – an extra $500 on average for each Missouri household.

$1 BILLION ANNUAL SAVINGS
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis determined that Medicaid expansion will save Missouri more than $1 billion annually by 2026 by bringing tax dollars back from Washington and reducing many of the healthcare costs the state of Missouri currently pays.

Missouri would join 37 other states that have expanded Medicaid, including neighboring Arkansas, where officials reported using savings from expansion to cut state income taxes and reduce payments previously allocated to the uninsured.

In 2018, voters in Utah, Idaho and Nebraska chose to expand Medicaid, and six days ago, voters in Oklahoma passed a Medicaid expansion ballot measure of their own.

GRASSROOTS EFFORT
Yes on 2: Healthcare for Missouri is a grassroots, nonpartisan effort led by Missourians, including doctors, nurses, healthcare advocates, civic and business leaders and Missourians who need healthcare.

For more information, visit Yeson2.org.