KC Health Care Reform

At the end of its legislative session, Missouri advanced its State-based Exchange bill through the House; however, the bill encountered opposition in the Senate. Agreement was reached that an interim Senate Committee will be formed this summer for a committee to work on a Missouri Exchange bill that would be acceptable. There will be a Senate bill and a companion House bill with a strategy to expedite the process and hope to have the bill on the Governor’s desk by early March 2012.

The Exchanges are a result of the Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that mandates everyone have health insurance by 2014. They would provide, at the state level, an online marketplace for individuals and small groups to purchase health insurance.

If legislation is not passed for Missouri to operate its own State-based Exchange, the alternative will be to have an Exchange that is run and overseen at the federal level. Proponents of a State-based Exchange want to keep the oversight on a “local” level and predict that a federally-operated Exchange would eliminate the ability to meet the needs of Missourians. Keeping the control at a State level would allow Missouri representatives, who have a closer connection with Missouri residents, to create the best Exchange for them.