Protests across the state over Hawley's vote on BBB

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Protests across the state took place Monday outside Senator Josh Hawley's offices in major cities were focused on one thing: getting the senator to reinstate potential Medicaid cuts expected with the Big Beautiful Bill.

"[Hawley] had addressed Medicaid cuts and saying he was against some and then he voted for the very thing that he protested against, and so we have Josh Hawley's own words for this protest, and we have sent letters to him working with him, asking to work with him prior to his vote. After his vote, we had an open letter in the Kansas City Star voicing our sadness that he flip flopped against his words, and that is why we are here today," Susan Schmalzbauer said.

Schmalzbauer is with Missouri Faith Voices, the organization behind the protests in Springfield, Kansas City, St. Louis and Columbia.

"Missouri Faith Voices is a nonpartisan, multi-faith, multiracial, social justice organization across the state, and we have been fighting for Medicaid expansion since the beginning, before the beginnings of ACA, and we were instrumental in seeing that Medicaid expansion was on the ballot in 2020, and we helped push it as across as a law," Schmalzbauer said. "We are concerned because this so-called beautiful bill now law will blow a $1 billion hole in the Missouri budget. Senator Hawley knows this. Senator Hawley talked about this. There is going to be a lot of hurt because this bill was pushed through without any feedback from the people and one in five Missourians have Medicaid, and so there's going to be a lot of people hurting when these bills come into effect after the midterms."

Among the protestors is Kory Wilcox.

Kory's son Asher has spinal muscular atrophy and even with private insurance from his parents, there are treatments Wilcox says Medicaid covers and if that support is altered, it could drastically change Asher's life for the worse.

"On the daily, he uses a variety of mobility devices. That's one thing that Medicaid helps us get. He relies on a lot of different medications, a lot of different therapies, and has an entire team of specialty doctors that works with him to make sure that everything's going right," Wilcox said. "Our family could not survive without Medicaid. We carry private insurance and in fact are covered by private insurance, my kiddo receives private insurance as well, and everything that we do runs through his private insurance and then things that private insurance won't cover Medicaid picks up. What I think our legislator doesn't really understand is that there are a lot of programs that private insurance will never pick up. These programs that my family relies on for my kid to survive, they are essential, and Medicaid is the only way that my kid gets those things."

Wilcox also believes creating new barriers to receive Medicaid could negatively impact other families.

"A lot of families that are trying to just survive and get by and really rely on Medicaid services also don't have the time and ability and sometimes even the education, sometimes the wherewithal to understand how complex the system is," Wilcox said.

He's hopeful he's heard.

"I'm a big advocate for people knowing that they are being heard, and I have been very forward in reaching out to our legislators. I'm not crazy. I'm not out there. I'm not trying to cause a ruckus or a disruption. There are a lot of things that I agree with in the legislative process. I understand the need to streamline and make things more efficient," Wilcox said. "I have a lot of ideas on how to get that done. What I want Josh to understand is that without a system to improve, in fact, there's nothing we can do. I would rather be working within an imperfect system and make sure my family is taken care of and work on improving that with the people in charge and work hand-in-hand with our legislators on making it better than to start from scratch or have nothing at all and be in crisis ourselves."

Rebekah Thomas, who says she recently retired from the International Institute, which works with refugees, says those looking for a better life in America could have more hurdles than before.

"Refugees, when they first come to the United States, they normally are eligible for benefits for food stamps, SNAP for the first year. Most of them don't use those benefits for very long because they start working almost immediately, but having that social safety net in place, when they're starting their new lives is so important and so essential and so my concern is the families that have just recently arrived back in January and December and still need those benefits, and if those benefits get cut off, I'm concerned how it will impact their transition to the United States," Thomas said. "I think the biggest thing for me, I think, is the food insecurity issue and then also access to health care. So our families, a lot of them come from war torn countries, a lot of them come from refugee camps, haven't had access to health care. So when they first get here, you know, they're playing catch up, they're getting their shots. They're, you know, talking to doctors to kind of get on a basic preventative health care plan, so not having access to that is a concern for me."

Schmalzbauer says Missouri Faith Voices wants to see a full plan from Hawley on restore potential Medicaid cuts, and a meeting between him and the group's board of directors.

OzarksFirst spoke with Senator Hawley's team while writing this story and will follow up with Hawley later this week for reaction during an interview planned for Thursday.

On July 17, in an interview with OzarksFirst, Hawley affirmed his support for the BBB.

"There's a lot that was good in that bill. I mean, just take Medicaid. I mean, I support work requirements for Medicaid. I support kicking illegals off Medicaid. We were able to get $1,000,000,000 in new rural hospital funding through Medicaid in that bill that I personally negotiated. So I was in favor of all of that, and of course, more health care coverage through the recap program that now for the first time Missouri is eligible for because I got to put in the bill. So I support all of that. What I do not support is taking away any federal funding for rural hospitals going forward. So my new legislation makes sure we continue to fully fund our rural hospitals," Hawley said. "It would double the new funding for rural hospitals. So under the under the current bill from just two weeks ago, we were able to get $1,000,000,000 in new funding for rural hospitals in the state of Missouri. My legislation now would double that and it would also prevent any changes to funding going forward for Missouri hospitals. No cuts in other words, there would not be any cuts of any kind for Missouri hospitals in future years. It would ensure they remain fully funded now and into the future, and I just think that's so important for the many people in rural Missouri who need access to health care."