Holden extends Medicaid eligibility

ST. LOUIS -- Gov. Bob Holden said he was taking action to provide improved health care and resources for disabled and elderly Missourians, but the opposing camp in the August Democratic primary called the move a last-ditch attempt to "make amends."

Holden increased Medicaid eligibility to 100 percent of the federal poverty level, after the state legislature appropriated funding for only 95 percent eligibility this fiscal year.

"This is the right thing to do for Missouri, both legally and morally," he said Saturday during a speech in St. Louis.

Holden said the eligibility change would help an additional 1,800 disabled Missourians and senior citizens.

The governor also said a new office in the Department of Health and Senior Services -- called the Office of Community Independence -- was opening in Jefferson City to better educate seniors and the disabled about resources to help them remain independent.

Glenn Campbell, a spokesman for Holden's Democratic challenger, State Auditor Claire McCaskill, said debates earlier in the week pointed out Holden had, at one point, proposed increasing co-pays for Medicaid recipients.

"It's not surprising days before the [primary] election, he's trying to make amends for some of his past failures," Campbell said.

Holden's spokesman, Jack Cardetti, said the governor's announcement was not linked to the upcoming Aug. 3 primary.

"The governor did this because it's the right thing to do," Cardetti said.

State and federal moneyHolden's spokesman said the governor made his decision based on a previously passed law.

In a 2001 special session called by Holden, a law was passed to increase Medicaid eligibility by phasing in changes over three years.

Medicaid uses a combination of state and federal money to pay for health care for disabled people, adults 65 and over who meet certain financial guidelines and children under 19 whose families have limited incomes.

Cardetti said the eligibility change would cost about $6 million, and funds would be requested in the supplemental budget. He said the governor hopes to put the change into effect Aug. 1, possibly with a provision to make it apply retroactively to July 1.

Holden spoke to about 400 people who gathered at the World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park to celebrate the 14th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Cynthia O'Neil, 42, of the St. Louis suburb of Berkeley, has multiple sclerosis and cannot work because of her illness. She said the governor's decision will help more of the disabled.

"It will cause living to be a little more affordable," she said.

John Hancock, a spokesman for the leading Republican gubernatorial candidate, Secretary of State Matt Blunt, said Blunt supports providing Medicaid coverage to everyone who is legally entitled to it.

"I would say generally that our reforms of the Medicaid system involve an aggressive plan to root out waste, fraud and abuse," Hancock said.