Donnelly ekes out small Medicaid victory
The House wrapped up its work on the state budget tonight with a debate on whether to restore the 2005 cuts Republicans made in health care for the poor.
While Democrats tried several times to reinstate some of the coverage and services, only one attempt succeeded.
That amendment — by Rep. Margaret Donnelly, D-Richmond Heights — allotted $2.2 million for occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy for adults. The funding comes on top of about $370,000 Donnelly secured in the House Budget Committee.
Without the funding, “some physicians don’t even do knee replacements because, if you don’t have physical therapy, it won’t work effectively,” Donnelly said.
On a 79-73 vote, colleagues agreed to take the money from Medicaid hospital payments.
Donnelly, one of the most knowledgeable Democrats on the Medicaid issue, is serving her last session in the House. A lawyer, she is running for attorney general.
It’s an election year, folks. As a result the House repubs threw out a small nougat. Now they can spout to their constituants that they voted to restore some of baby Blunts devastating Medicaid cuts. Don’t you just love election years?
btw….kudos for Donnelly. She’s one of the more common sense represenatives in Jefferson City.
You go, Margaret! If she got that done with the current makeup of the Missouri legislature, she certainly has what it takes to be AG. Thanks for serving the people of Missouri and not so-called special interests.
A small nougat?
This doesn’t even cover everyone the Republicans promised to restore last year (dental/vision) but they aren’t funding. That being said, with a recession looming and a legislature very willing to balance the state budget on the backs of poor people, this is a major achievement. Good work Margaret!
Alright folks, this isn’t exactly something to get too excited about. In the grand scheme of things, the funding and programmatic element being restored are minuscule. Republicans now have a basis to say that the worst of the cuts were restored giving them a pass on Democratic criticisms. Good work there Margaret.
Does Virginia Young and the Post receive campaign money from Missouri Democrat Party? If not, they should.
I have yet to have anyone tell me an exact portion of the state budget that would be appropriate for medicaid. Right now it stands at about 25%. If healthcare costs any family or business 25% of revenue, it would cripple either. What portion of the state revenue should Missouri pay for medicaid?
Great work, Margaret. Now…let’s just make sure that all Dem candidates remind the “forgetful” voters of MO WHO was responsible for the cuts in the first place. Hmmmmm. Among them, the name Koster comes to mind…
Amazedbythelunacy (post #7)
Bravo! Well said. If they did the Post would never lose money again. It is good to see the Post editorializing somewhere other than the front page… well done Virgina… well done… in one story (post) you managed to:
Vilify the Missouri GOP
Promote the welfare state
Try and advance the future career of one of the most liberal members of the House
There should be a little something in this for you… a spokesperson job maybe?
and 25% of the budget is more than enough… more than enough.
Oh now tsquare, no one has to “vilify the Missouri GOP,” Paul Sloca and John Hancock do a good enough job of that themselves. You rightwingers really don’t get it do you? If you take away health care from kids, the elderly and the disabled, most folks are going to think you’re a bad guy.
Now, when you lie to everyone beforehand, like Blunt did, and say Medicaid is worth protecting, and then you turn around and slash it, then most folks are going to think you’re a dishonest bad guy.
And when you lay down to let someone slash Medicaid like the Republicans in the legislature did, then most folks are going to think you’re in bed with the bad guy, and they’ll assume that you’re bad guys too.
Good for Donnelly on this one, though it definitely is a touch “nougat”-y, and hardly a major victory.
Can anyone answer my question? Buehler? Buehler?
How much of the state budget would be appropriate? We currently spend a quarter on Medicaid/Healthnet and about 40-45% on “Human Services.”
Dear Nick: A small nougat = a mere morsel
It is obvious what is going on here. There is no way that this wasn’t purposefully allowed by the Republicans. The Democrats have tried these 5 to 10 of these amendments every year. Every year they lose by just a few votes. So they let Margaret Donnelly win one. A few million dollars is a small price to pay to help Mike Gibbons win the attorney general’s race. I bet she has her most successful year ever. Watch.
Democrats can decide if they want to nominate a St. Louis liberal who can never win or a moderate like Chris Koster that will beat Mike Gibbons.