JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones has appointed a 50-member task force to study potential changes to the Medicaid health care program for the poor.
The panel is made up of 14 lawmakers and 36 private citizens, including many who are doctors, hospital officials or otherwise involved in health care. But the panel also includes one person identified as a Medicaid recipient.
The large task force is to gather public testimony and research about Medicaid changes. A separate committee of 21 lawmakers then will take that information and craft legislation for the 2014 session.
Missouri's Republican-led Legislature rejected a plan earlier this year by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon to expand Medicaid eligibility in accordance with the new federal health care law.