What Medicaid expansion summary did the Attorney General approve for petition 2020-053?

Plain-English summary

The Secretary of State submitted a proposed summary statement for Heidi Miller’s petition 2020-053 to amend Chapter 208, Revised Statutes of Missouri. The approved statement proposes Medicaid Expansion for people ages 19 to 64 with income at or below 133% of the federal poverty level. It also describes limits on additional eligibility or enrollment burdens and a direction to maximize federal financial participation.

The Attorney General approved the legal content and form of the proposed statement under § 116.334, RSMo. The letter expressly disclaims an endorsement of the petition or a view on its proponents’ objectives. It does not determine whether the petition later reached the ballot.

Currency note

This letter was issued in 2019. Consult the petition text and current law for the proposal’s details and present rules.

The proposed summary statement

Do you want to amend Missouri law to:

• adopt Medicaid Expansion for persons 19 to 64 years old with an income level at or below 133% of the federal poverty level, as set forth in the Affordable Care Act;

• prohibit placing greater or additional burdens on eligibility or enrollment standards, methodologies or practices on persons covered under Medicaid Expansion than on any other population eligible for Medicaid; and

• require state agencies to take all actions necessary to maximize federal financial participation in funding medical assistance under Medicaid Expansion?

Common questions

Q: Did this letter say petition 2020-053 became Amendment 2?
A: No. It approves a proposed summary statement for this statutory petition and says nothing about whether it reached the ballot or became a later constitutional amendment.

Q: Did the Attorney General endorse the policy?
A: No. The letter approves the statement’s legal content and form and expressly disclaims endorsement of the petition or its proponents’ objectives.

Background and statutory framework

The Secretary of State requested review of a proposed summary statement under § 116.334, RSMo. The Attorney General approved the statement’s legal content and form; this letter does not analyze the petition’s full text or later outcome.

Citations and references

Statute cited: § 116.334, RSMo.

Source

• Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/79-2019.pdf

Original opinion text

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
ERIC SCHMITT

May 2, 2019
OPINION LETTER NO. 79-2019

The Honorable John R. Ashcroft
Missouri Secretary of State
James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center
600 West Main Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101

Dear Secretary Ashcroft:

This opinion letter responds to your request dated April 22, 2019, for our review under § 116.334, RSMo, of a proposed summary statement prepared for the petition submitted by Heidi Miller regarding a proposed amendment to amend Chapter 208, Revised Statutes of Missouri (2020-053). The proposed summary statement is as follows:

Do you want to amend Missouri law to:

• adopt Medicaid Expansion for persons 19 to 64 years old with an income level at or below 133% of the federal poverty level, as set forth in the Affordable Care Act;

• prohibit placing greater or additional burdens on eligibility or enrollment standards, methodologies or practices on persons covered under Medicaid Expansion than on any other population eligible for Medicaid; and

• require state agencies to take all actions necessary to maximize federal financial participation in funding medical assistance under Medicaid Expansion?

Pursuant to § 116.334, RSMo, we approve the legal content and form of the proposed statement. Because our review of the statement is mandated by statute, no action that we take with respect to such review should be construed as an endorsement of the petition, nor as the expression of any view regarding the objectives of its proponents.

Very truly yours,

ERIC S. SCHMITT
Attorney General

Broadway Building
P.O. Box 899
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: (573) 751-3321
Fax: (573) 751-0774
www.ago.mo.gov

OP-2019-0085