“Gov. Mike Parson’s administration is facing a new lawsuit in the fight over Medicaid expansion in Missouri,” reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Two St. Louis-area residents, in a suit filed Friday, are asking a Cole County judge to include their litigation with a previously filed lawsuit set to get underway on June 18. The duo include Luke Barber, 26, who is an autistic grocery store worker from St. Louis County earning $16,000 annually, which qualifies him for the government health insurance program.

“The other plaintiff is Christine Chaney, 43, who has been diagnosed with depression and would be eligible for health benefits under the expanded program because she earns about $15,000 a year. Attorneys for Barber and Chaney are seeking a decision similar to a lawsuit filed on May 20, which asks a judge to require the state to expand its Medicaid program in accordance with the constitutional amendment 53% of voters supported last August.”

“That case was filed against the Department of Social Services on behalf of three Missourians who would become eligible for services on July 1 under the constitutional amendment. Lawmakers left Jefferson City on May 14 without funding the expansion, which would provide health care services to adults earning up to 138% of the federal poverty limit beginning on July 1. Opponents of the expansion in the Republican-dominated Legislature argued proponents should have included a funding mechanism in their ballot language.”