County leaders upset by cancellation of Medicaid hearing

~ State senator says cancelled Bootheel meeting wouldn't have offered new testimony.

A bipartisan group of Southeast Missouri county commissioners called on the state Senate's Republican leader to reconsider his decision to cancel a Medicaid hearing in Cape Girardeau.

Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields of St. Joseph earlier this month dropped public hearings in Cape Girardeau and Springfield from the workload of the legislature's Medicaid Reform Commission. Instead, the commission held two days of public testimony in Jefferson City.

In a letter dated Oct. 13, 16 presiding county commissioners -- 11 Democrats and five Republicans -- said the cancellation was a mistake. "One in three of the state's Medicaid recipients reside in Southern Missouri," the commissioners wrote. "We ask that you give the people of the area with such a large stake in the program a fair opportunity as you have given the rest of the state."

Commissioner Terry Nichols of Iron County, who led the effort to get the signatures, noted that Shields held a public hearing in his hometown of St. Joseph. "He represents that area and made sure they were represented," Nichols said. "Don't you think our people need a fair chance to voice their opinion?"

The commissioners signing the letter include Gerald Jones of Cape Girardeau, Wayne Johnson of Bollinger County, Martin Priggel of Scott County and Thomas Sutterer of Perry County.

"It makes you kind of feel like we don't count," Johnson said of the cancellations.

The Medicaid commission, which includes five senators and five representatives, is designed to overhaul Missouri's Medicaid program, which provides health care for the indigent. The program, which costs state and federal taxpayers about $5 billion annually, has undergone a series of cuts to reduce costs.

The decision to eliminate the Cape Girardeau and Springfield meetings was a move to save time, Shields said Wednesday. The commission must complete its work by Jan. 1, he said.

Nothing that would be said at a meeting in Southern Missouri would be much different from what the commission has already heard, Shields said.

"I am not sure any of the concerns people had about Medicaid were necessarily geographic-specific," he said. "The issues in rural Missouri and access to primary care are not much different in Southeast Missouri than in Northwest Missouri."

The calls for additional hearings aren't likely to result in a change in the decision, Shields said. "At some point we have to stop taking public testimony and write a report."

Democrats on the panel, however, are moving to hold their own hearings. After the meeting in Cape Girardeau was cancelled, Democrats set up a meeting in Kennett to listen to local concerns and are planning to do the same in Springfield and Hannibal, said state Rep. Margaret Donnelly, D-St. Louis.

"I continue to be disappointed that the entire commission is not going anywhere in Southeast Missouri," Donnelly said.

The hearings provide insight into the feelings and ideas of providers and clients, Donnelly said. "If you are going to develop a plan that meets the needs of all Missourians, you need to make sure you have been in every part of the state."

County commissioners who signed the letter said they don't have answers for the lawmakers. But they know their constituents want to be heard and that many have a hard time traveling all day to Jefferson City to appear before the commission.

"The big thing is we have so many people in Southeast Missouri who are on Medicaid," Priggel of Scott County said. "They've got questions they would like answered. It is not a partisan issue. All of the county commissioners are just interested in trying to help people out in their counties."

Despite the bickering about the cancelled meetings, both Shields and Donnelly said their goal is a better Medicaid system. "I have been in the legislature a long time and I am about fixing this thing," Shields said. "My hope is to create a better system, that provides the right care at the right place at the right time for the right cost."

For Donnelly, an improved system is one that restores some of the services cut because of budget constraints. "My commitment is to work to come up with the best possible recommendations to provide improved quality and access."

rkeller@semissourian.com

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