Staff Contact: Daniel Landon or Rob Monsees
The Missouri House of Representatives approved legislation to reauthorize the hospital Federal Reimbursement Allowance and the other state provider taxes. The reauthorization extends for three years through Sept. 30, 2024. Senate Bill 1 also bans Medicaid coverage of abortifacient drugs and devices used for the purpose of inducing an abortion. As with the current Medicaid abortion coverage ban generally, the abortifacient ban does not apply when a physician certifies that a continued pregnancy would endanger the life of the mother. The legislation also states that if one of its components is held invalid, the remainder of the legislation will remain in force.
The state Senate developed and passed the legislation last week, and Gov. Parson is expected to sign it into law. The governor previously released a list of $722 million in spending cuts throughout the state budget, announcing that they could be averted only if state legislators reauthorized the provider taxes in a legislative special session before the start of the state fiscal year on Thursday, July 1.
With the enactment of the provider tax reauthorization legislation, the governor is expected to proceed with approving the legislation creating the state’s budget for the next fiscal year.