Job growth from Medicaid expansion

Missouri can anticipate a wave of job growth and annual economic output from Medicaid expansion of more than double the expected $1 billion in yearly savings to the state budget.

That’s the conclusion of a new report released Tuesday by the Missouri Foundation for Health. The independent study concludes that Medicaid expansion will create more than 16,000 new jobs annually over its first five years, with nearly 80 percent of those from outside of the healthcare industry.

And 90 percent of the new jobs would pay more than $15 an hour, with most of the new positions located outside of St Louis and Kansas City.

“Both the net new healthcare spending and the reduction of state government spending … would generate positive economic impacts for Missouri,” the report from Regional Economic Models Inc. (REMI) concludes.  And “the reduction of state government spending would effectively expand Missouri’s operating budget to reallocate funding for other priorities.”

The state’s annual personal income would increase by an average of $1.1 billion from 2022 (the first full year of expansion, if approved by voters) through 2026.  

Put another way, that’s an extra $500 a year for each Missouri household.