Ballot Initiative Strategy Center releases statement as Missouri becomes the 6th state expand Medicaid through ballot measures
Washington, D.C. — The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center’s (BISC) Executive Director, Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, issued the following statement today regarding the sweeping passage of a ballot measure to expand Medicaid in Missouri:
Today, Missouri joined Oklahoma by voting to expand Medicaid coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, over 230,000 Missourians wake up with access to life-saving, affordable healthcare including 36,000 Black Missourians. With a 53 percent margin, Missouri voters showed their resounding support for Amendment 2.
As more and more Americans face unemployment and economic instability during this pandemic, access to quality affordable healthcare should not be among anyone’s top concerns. Missouri voters made it abundantly clear that income or employment status shouldn’t stand between anyone and a doctor.
Amendment 2 marks the sixth time voters have expanded Medicaid via ballot measure, and is the second time a state has done so in 2020. Missouri is now the 38th state to expand Medicaid coverage for those who need it most, and alongside Oklahoma, it proves that access to quality affordable healthcare is hardly a partisan issue to voters.
We applaud the leadership of The Fairness Project and Yes on 2 in passing today’s ballot measure in Missouri, and are proud to see the string of successes experienced by Medicaid expansion initiatives in 2020.
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