Health Forward announces campaign to expand Medicaid in Missouri

Kansas City, MO — Health Forward Foundation has joined a coalition of voters and patients, medical professionals, business leaders, and other organizations to launch a new campaign to put Medicaid expansion on the ballot.

The newly formed campaign — Healthcare for Missouri — will ask voters to bring home more than a billion of Missourians’ tax dollars from Washington, D.C., every year to keep rural hospitals open, boost the state’s economy, and deliver health care to people who have lower-paying jobs that don’t come with insurance.

A signature collection drive kicks off today with volunteers from around the state. The coalition needs to collect 172,000 signatures from registered voters to put Medicaid expansion on the November 2020 ballot.

“We believe it’s time to let voters decide whether we should expand Medicaid,” said Health Forward President/CEO Bridget McCandless. “Expansion will ensure that our most vulnerable citizens never have to decide between life-saving care and putting food on the table.”

Health Forward has long supported expanding access to health care. Medicaid expansion will help more than 200,000 uninsured Missourians — including farmers, service workers, and small business employees — gain access to health care.

Healthcare for Missouri released a video Wednesday highlighting the benefits that Medicaid expansion would bring to Missouri families and its economy. The video is available on the campaign’s website: www.HealthcareForMissouri.org.

A broadcast quality version of the video may be downloaded and used by news media. It is available at: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1W4cY7IyolVtJHJm10SweYQ-CW0HLrQVB

Learn more about the campaign at healthcareformissouri.org.