Silvey continues Medicaid push at St. Louis luncheon

SAINT LOUIS, Mo. — The crowd was small, but the guest list impressive, at luncheon and fundraiser for Kansas City area Republican, Sen. Ryan Silvey. Former U.S. Senators Kit Bond and Jack Danforth hosted the young lawmaker in the St. Louis Club in Clayton.

Representatives from AT&T, Enterprise, Mercy Hospital and SSM were all present. Silvey, who is effectively the face of Medicaid reform and expansion among Missouri Republicans, took some heat from the most conservative members of his party for his support of expansion. But Silvey says people are “starving for depth” on the issue.

“People are hungry for something more than a pithy soundbite,” Silvey told The Missouri Times. “The public are largely more interested in someone who is going to look at a complex problem and come up with a complex answer than they are in someone who is testing the polls and being superficial.”

Supporters hope that the expansion will be an easier push after the 2014 election cycle. In the Senate, at least one staunch opponent of expansion, John Lamping, will not be seeking reelection. However, a small number of senators have threatened to filibuster any expansion plan should it come to the floor.

Silvey says 2015 might be the time to “call their bluff.”

“If you can’t address someone’s concerns and the majority is prepared to move forward, then I think it’s time to make [opponents] stand and talk,” Silvey said. “How long will the body tolerate the threat of a filibuster without actually making those folks execute it?”

Silvey frequently refers to his plan as the “most conservative Medicaid plan in the nation,” in part because of the sweeping reforms it calls for, including more stringent work requirements. Silvey is vice chair of the powerful Senate appropriations committee.

Current chairman and expansion opponent, Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, has already announced his intentions to run for attorney general when his term ends in 2016. If Missouri has not embraced Medicaid expansion and reform by then, many believe that when he ascends to Chairman, Silvey will use his considerable position to write his plan into the budget.

“We’ve already got improvement and progress,” Silvey said. “And I think people are hungry for this, they’re hungry for depth and for us, as lawmakers, to have serious conversations about policy.”