State's GOP budget leaders criticize Nixon's health plan

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Republican budget leaders asserted Monday that a government-run health care plan backed by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Nixon would prove too costly for the state to afford.

Nixon has proposed to reverse the 2005 Medicaid cuts that eliminated health coverage for tens of thousands of low-income Missourians and reduced benefits for numerous others. He also proposed last week to allow middle-class families to buy health insurance for their children through a government program.

Nixon initially said his plan would cost $265 million annually in state money and an additional $700 million in federal money. But his campaign later said it had made miscalculated and revised the federal share to $431 million annually.

Republican budget leaders suggested Monday that Nixon also was off on the state cost, which they projected at $350 million to $400 million annually. They claimed Nixon's health care plan either would force a tax increase or lead to budget cuts in other areas as soon as the 2010 fiscal year.

The criticism was delivered jointly by Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Gary Nodler, R-Joplin; House Budget Committee chairman Allen Icet, R-Wildwood; and Gov. Matt Blunt's administration commissioner, Larry Schepker.

If enacted, Nixon's plan would be "re-creating the very sort of economic chaos this state faced five and six years ago," when budget strains led to cuts in education and numerous other government programs, Nodler said.

When Blunt took office in 2005, he said the Medicaid program had grown too large to sustain and that eligibility and benefits cuts were necessary to help balance the budget.

A Nixon spokesman dismissed the Republican criticism as an indication that health care was not a priority to his opponents.

"These attacks are coming from the same politicians who helped Matt Blunt slash health care from thousands of Missourians, so it's not surprising that they would find a reason to oppose Jay Nixon's plan to restore coverage to those folks," said Nixon spokesman Oren Shur.

Republican gubernatorial candidates Kenny Hulshof and Sarah Steelman both have generally defended Blunt's Medicaid cuts as a budget necessity and criticized Nixon's plan for being too costly.

Nixon's plan would go beyond the restoration of the 2005 cuts. For example, it would allow families earning more than three times the federal poverty level -- $63,600 for a family of four -- to buy coverage for their children through the State Children's Health Insurance Program. That program already covers children whose families earn less than that but lack private insurance and don't qualify for traditional Medicaid coverage.

Children's health program

Based on the several other states that have adopted similar programs, Nixon said Missourians should be able to buy into the state children's health program for about $150 a month.

The Republican legislative budget leaders suggested that expansion wasn't necessary.

"I'm not sure why the state needs to intervene when a family of four is bringing down $65,000," Icet said.

Added Nodler: "I'm not sure we want to incent a movement to state-supported insurance coverage for children for families that are able to provide that coverage. Why would the state cause a movement to taxpayer dependence that is not necessary?"