Date: February 12th, 2024To: Chairman Haden and Members, House Healthcare ReformFrom: Mallory Rusch, Executive Director, Empower MissouriRe: Our support for HB 1918 and HB 2626 Empower Missouri has spent more than 120 years fighting poverty in Missouri. Today, we come to present testimony on a bill which specifically targets our neighbors with the lowest incomes....Read More

A bipartisan group of Missouri lawmakers have proposed evidence-based policy that will help close to half of Missouri’s growing families. They seek to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to a full year – to give one year of uninterrupted access to healthcare after a person’s pregnancy ends.   Despite the fact that the bills...Read More

As I look back in my life, one specific policy has impacted nearly every decision I’ve ever made: Healthcare. I was a single mom during Obama’s first campaign. I worked two jobs which barely covered rent. Even while working more than 40 hours a week in a hospital, I didn’t have healthcare. I pieced together...Read More

This special Weekly Perspective is a collaboration between MO Jobs with Justice Organizing Director Richard Von Glahn and Empower Missouri’s Policy Manager Christine Woody.  During his state of the state, Governor Mike Parson recommended a long overdue 5.5% cost of living adjustment for all state employees as well as a new minimum wage of $15...Read More

Beginning in January 2022, Empower Missouri is proud to announce that we’ll be joining The Right Time Initiative as a community mobilization partner.  The Right Time is a multi-year initiative, funded by Missouri Foundation for Health, that is based on the simple belief that everyone should have the opportunity to pursue the future they want,...Read More

The Missouri legislature will return to Jefferson City at noon today for a special session called yesterday by Governor Mike Parson.  Here’s a quick rundown of what you need to know: Why did the Governor call a special session?  During the regular session, the legislature failed to reauthorize something called the Federal Reimbursement Allowance, better...Read More

There are a lot of attacks on workers and voters going on this session – so many that it’s tough to keep them all straight and keep track of what’s real and what is purely political grandstanding. The number one thing to know is that on July 1st, more than 230,000 Missourians will be newly...Read More

At Kids Win Missouri, we envision a state where all children have the opportunity to be healthy, happy, and successful. That’s why we supported Medicaid expansion on the ballot last August – because we know that by expanding Medicaid in our state, Missouri’s kids will win BIG. Although expansion is targeted to uninsured adults, research...Read More

In 2012, Empower Missouri became part of the Missouri Medicaid Coalition. Year after year, our coalition would ask the Missouri General Assembly to close the Medicaid coverage gap so that workers with low wages could get into Medicaid if they did not meet the income guidelines for the Marketplace plans in the Affordable Care Act....Read More

2020 has been shaping up to be a tough year for many of us. The coronavirus and social distancing guidelines and recommendations have kept us from seeing and being around our loved ones. The isolation has led to anxiety, and for some, even depression, but the unexpected changes have made us realize just how unprecedented...Read More