Governor Jay Nixon beat back any suggestion he broke a campaign promise by cutting Medicaid reimbursements to doctors this fall, a year after campaigning on reversing the healthcare cuts his predecessor made.
In an interview in the Governor's Mansion Thursday, Nixon said the biggest disappointment of his first year was failing to push through his deal with the Missouri Hospital Association, which would have expanded healthcare coverage to an estimated 35,000 uninsured.
But he was clear about who was to blame for that shortcoming.
"Literally as we sit here at the holiday season, 35-thousand working poor in Missouri don't have healthcare," Nixon said. "Even though the Missouri Senate and the Governor overwhelmingly supported that for zero pennies cost to the state," he added.
***WATCH EXCHANGE ABOVE***
ALSO: STAYS NEUTRAL ON SENATE HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION
BUT SAYS: "The bottom line is we look to receive significant benefits from the federal government by the time this legislature gets back and gets its teeth into the budget, we should have an answer from Washington, D.C."
The Governor also said cutting the state workforce by almost 2-thousand was the most difficult decision of his first twelve months.
"Cutting the state workforce by almost 2,000. It's challenging. You know these people, you know their families," Nixon said.
No comments:
Post a Comment