Moooo-ve over Obamacare.
The same group of state lawmakers that have staunchly opposed expanding insurance coverage to low-income people under Medicaid expansion just unanimously approved a measure that subsidizes dairy cow insurance for farmers.
Related: Medicaid Expansion Cheaper Than Expected: CBO
The cleverly nicknamed “Affordable Cow Act” is intended to beef up Missouri’s struggling dairy industry by expanding farmers’ access to affordable dairy cow coverage.
The bill soared through the state House and Senate and was sent to Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon’s office for signage.
At the same time, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that demonstrators flooded the Missouri Capitol to protest the state’s failure to expand its Medicaid program, which provides subsidized health coverage to low-income people under the Affordable Care Act (yes, the one for humans.)
The awkward timing was not lost on state lawmakers.
Republican Sen. Ryan Silvey of Kansas City questioned
Why lawmakers were so quick to approve “Obamacow” while refusing to expand coverage to low-income people under Medicaid expansion. Silvey is a rare Republican who supports expanding Missouri’s Medicaid program, according to the Associated Press.
Related: States of Health: Winners & Losers in Medicaid
“I kinda jokingly refer to it as ‘Obamacows’ because it was the Farm Bill of 2014 that created this insurance program. Yet, what we can’t do is have or don’t seem to have a larger policy debate on providing assistance to taxpayers and individual in the state that are not going to be part of this dairy assistance. I can’t help myself but to point it out,” Silvey said. “We’re going to use state tax dollars to pay for 70 percent of a federal insurance program created by the Obama administration, for cows.”
While it may seem like a reasonable parallel, it’s important to note that the dairy assistance program is estimated to cost the state about $4.7 million next year—in contrast, Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion would come with a $1 billion price tag for the state, PolticoMo noted.
Under Medicaid expansion, the federal government fully finances state programs until 2017—after that states cover 10 percent of their tab. So far, 28 states have expanded their programs, while 22 have opted not to, citing cost as their primary reason.
Still, many states that haven’t expanded are discussing how to do so in a cost-effective way.
They’ll likely be debating this until the cows come home.
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