Without Medicaid Expansion, Missouri Hospitals Could Lose $400 Million
State hospital officials across the country have been speaking out in favor of the Obamacare provision that expands Medicaid coverage to an estimated 17 million low-income people across the country, urging their legislators to opt into the health care exchanges set up under the law. Despite the significant financial benefits for states that accept the expansion, some Republican governors have already threatened to reject it. In Missouri, health officials articulate the stark reality — struggling hospitals without enough funds that would eventually be forced to close their doors — that would be in store for their state if Gov. Jay Nixon (D-MO) does not accept the expansion. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that, if Missouri chooses to forgo the health insurance exchange under Obamacare, hospitals in the state could lose hundreds of millions in funding: The projected loss of up to nearly $400 million would come from cuts to federal Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments, and ...