Governor Signs Budget Bills

MACH Members:

Governor Kehoe Signs Budget Bills – Makes 208 Line-Item Vetoes – Complex Care Assistant Funding Survives

Late Monday afternoon, June 30, Governor Kehoe signed the FY2026 budget bills into law. As I reported during the legislative session, HB10 includes new funding to establish Complex Care Assistant (CCA) services under the Private Duty Nursing (PDN) program. We are pleased to share that the CCA line item was not vetoed by the Governor—especially notable given that many other programs were not as fortunate. In total, nearly $2.23 billion (including $300 million in general revenue) was vetoed, along with 32 withholds amounting to $211 million in general revenue.

The CCA language included in the budget bill says:

For the purposes of funding a family complex care assistant program under which a parent, guardian, family member, and any other individual with a close association that is the equivalent of a family relationship of an enrollee in Medicaid approved by the enrollee's parent or guardian may be employed by a private duty nursing agency as a Complex Care Assistant (CCA) and, under the direction of a Registered Nurse, to provide CCA services to the enrollee.

MACH, along with our Pediatric Task Force, will continue to work with the Division of Senior and Disability Services and MO HealthNet on getting the State Plan Amendment to CMS for approval and in drafting the rules and regulations around the program.

For those interested, you can click here to view our lobbying firm’s report on activity following the adjournment of the First Special Session in June.



Wishing everyone a safe and enjoyable 4th of July holiday and weekend!

Thanks

Carol Hudspeth

Executive Director