Political Quotes

“Over the last decade, Missouri's Medicaid Program has faced a series of difficult but important challenges. Not only has the program been forced to struggle with internal issues, such as transitioning to managed care, reaching out to Missourians who are eligible but not yet enrolled in the program, and providing adequate payment to health care providers who care for Medicaid patients. It has had to deal with a number of important challenges presented at the Federal level as well. Not the least were efforts by Congress, attempted in both 1995 and 1997, but foiled by me and other legislators and people in similar circumstances in other States, to limit States' abilities to make disproportionate share hospital payments to safety net hospitals. Another challenge has been to expand coverage to children in working poor families as called for by the creation of the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. I was an early supporter of this program and its efforts to expand coverage for low-income children.”