Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry announces support for Medicaid expansion

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry has endorsed the proposed constitutional amendment to expand eligibility for Medicaid.

“The Missouri Chamber urges voters to approve Amendment 2 on August 4. Let’s not miss this chance to bolster our economy during this recovery while expanding access to health care for our fellow Missourians,” Chamber President and CEO Daniel Mehan said in a Friday statement.

Mehan lauded the initiative as a “pro-jobs measure that will help fuel economic growth.”

The release cites an independent study commissioned by the Missouri Foundation for Health that concluded that passage will expand Missouri’s economic output by $2.5 billion and create more than 16,000 new jobs each year over its first five years.

The Chamber has publicly supported Medicaid expansion since 2013. But the issue’s presence on the 2020 ballot gives Friday’s announcement more significance and adds bipartisan heft to the campaign.

The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City have both endorsed the proposed amendment as well.

“Since we launched the effort last year to bring back $1 billion of our own tax dollars from Washington to help keep rural hospitals open and protect frontline healthcare workers, there has been an outpouring of support across the state for Medicaid expansion,” the pro-expansion campaign’s spokesperson, Jack Cardetti, wrote in an email earlier this week.

“This includes collecting nearly 350,000 signatures to place this issue on the ballot so that Missourians can finally decide whether they want a stronger economy and more healthy communities.”

Missouri is one of 14 states that has not expanded its Medicaid offering under the Affordable Care Act. An expanded Medicaid program would cover an estimated 300,000 low-income Missourians.