Quade files bill to renew critical Medicaid funding source

Federal reimbursement allowance slated to expire this year

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (MHDC)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, on Tuesday filed a bill to renew the federal reimbursement allowance and end the renewal process currently required by law every three years.

Quade filed House Bill 2834 as a backup to FRA legislation already pending in the Senate. Renewing this critical funding source is a top issue facing lawmakers this year.

 “With billions on the line for our state’s hospitals, the House also needs a legislative option for continuing the federal reimbursement allowance,” Quade said. “This funding source is too essential for Missouri’s health care system to be left to chance.”

Quade’s bill is similar to Senate Bill 748 sponsored by state Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield. It would renew the FRA indefinitely, preventing the issue from being abused as a political football by extremist politicians. The last time the FRA was renewed, in 2021, far-right Republicans attempted to include unrelated and unconstitutional language to prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds. A special legislative session was later required to enact FRA renewal legislation without that language.

With FRA renewal back on the docket this year, far-right Republicans are again threatening to derail the effort to provide billions in federal funds for Missouri hospitals. The Missouri Budget Project projects the state likely would lose $4.3 billion in state and federal funds if the General Assembly failed to renew the FRA.  

“Our state can no longer tolerate extreme politicians hijacking such an integral part of our state’s health care system just so they can make campaign speeches in the Senate,” Quade said.

Quade’s bill differs from Hough’s in that it includes several technical corrections to fix transcription errors and update statutory references.