Thoughts on Medicaid, Right to Try, and Paycheck Protection As Legislative Session Wraps Up

Expect things to get a little wild before the legislature finishes its work at 6 p.m. Friday. Here are some of the issues I’ll be paying close attention to.

First, Medicaid expansion. To reiterate, Missouri should not expand this expensive, broken health care program. “Medicaid Transformation” is not the same thing as “Medicaid reform.” Transformation is just expansion rebranded.

Second, Right to Try. The bill would allow terminally ill patients greater flexibility to seek experimental medications, making this bill the latest in a string of proposed reforms — including last year’s Volunteer Health Services Act and this year’s hemp oil bill — emphasizing greater access in care and treatment. I testified in favor of the law in both the House and Senate, and while several states are considering the law this year, Missouri could end up being the first in the nation to pass it.

Third, paycheck protection. Paycheck protection would allow public employees in unions to, by default, keep more of their money rather than have it automatically siphoned off for a union’s political activities. It’s a common sense approach to a thorny free speech problem, which I’ve testified about before. If it goes to voters, you’ll hear much more about this topic from me in the weeks ahead, but the Senate will have to vote on it first.

There are other issues which are also lingering in the legislature, including tax credit reform and voter ID. I support both. TIF reform and the transportation tax are also big issues, and I would direct you to David Stokes’ and Joe Miller’s excellent work on those topics respectively. The school transfer issue is still very much alive, and of course there’s Tesla versus the car dealers, which you can read more about here and here.

It’s been a long session, but it’s not over yet. Stay tuned to Show-Me Daily as the week goes on for updates on these issues.