JEFFERSON CITY — Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, has been named one of 10 members of the newly-created Senate Interim Committee on Medicaid Transformation and Reform.  Senator Nasheed was instrumental in the creation of the interim committee when she offered an amendment to a bill to expand Medicaid and refused to withdraw the amendment unless the interim committee was formed.

Senator Nasheed also sponsored Senate Bill 131 during the 2013 session, which would extend MO HealthNet benefits to people over the age of 19 and under the age of 65, if their income falls at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Her bill was never voted on after receiving a committee hearing.

“Medicaid expansion was the most important issue we considered this year, and it will be the most important issue we will consider next year,” Sen. Nasheed said. “Providing health care services to almost 300,000 working Missourians is the morally right thing to do, and it will provide a huge economic boost to our state. If committee members want to look at reforming the MO HealthNet system, that’s fine, as long as we also come up with ways to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. I will do everything in my power to make that happen.”

The Senate Interim Committee on Medicaid Transformation and Reform is tasked with developing methods to prevent fraud and abuse in the MO HealthNet system, with finding cost-effective ways to provide MO HealthNet services, and with finding market-based approaches to expanding health care coverage to Missourians.  The committee must present its findings and recommendations to the Missouri General Assembly by Dec. 15, 2013.