Governor won’t support push to expand Medicaid

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Republican Gov. Mike Parson says he’ll fight efforts to expand the number of people eligible for government health care in Missouri. Parson told The Associated Press on Thursday that the state cannot afford to expand Medicaid. He plans to speak out against a proposed constitutional amendment on the issue. The measure would allow adults earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level to access Medicaid. The campaign manager for Medicaid expansion says they have gathered roughly 90,000 petition signatures so far. That’s more than halfway to the target of about 172,000 needed to qualify the measure for the November ballot.