GOP Hypocrites, Missouri-Style

Missouri House Republicans recently voted to approve two bills to eliminate health coverage through Medicaid for as many as 48,000 needy adults — plus 20,000 children enrolled in Missouri's children's health insurance program. Yet, noted the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, of the 89 part-time Republican legislators who voted for each bill — which passed along strictly party lines — more than 75 percent are enrolled in the state's own health insurance plan, subsidized by taxpayers. "It's a pretty sweet deal," the paper editorialized under the biting headline, "House of Hypocrites." Then the Post-Dispatch ran the numbers:

89 — House Republicans who voted to cut Medicaid for the poor.

66 — House Republicans with taxpayer-subsidized health insurance.

$152 — A House member's expense allowance for two days in session.

$151 — Top weekly income allowed for a mother of two on Medicaid.

$4,400 — Average cost to taxpayers for individual health insurance for a legislator.

$4,656 — Top annual income allowed for a single adult on Medicaid.

$31,351 — Salary for a part-time Missouri legislator, who works five months a year.

$8,000 — Average cost to taxpayers for health coverage of a legislator and spouse.

$7,837 — Annual income that disqualifies a mother of two from Medicaid.

20,000 — Missouri children who would lose health insurance under the bill passed by the Republican House majority.

48,000 — Number of Missouri adults who would lose Medicaid under the same bill.