EDITORIAL: Up to us now

It's up to Missourians now.

Both leading candidates for governor -- Republican Mike Parson and Democrat Nicole Galloway -- have said they will follow the will of the people on the issue of Medicaid expansion.

Galloway, the state auditor, had previously said she was the candidate who could be trusted to expand Medicaid, to which Parson replied recently: "If the people of the state of Missouri -- that is their will and they vote to do that -- that's what I'm supposed to do is uphold the will of the people of this state, and that's what I intend to do regardless of whether I agree with the issue or whether I don't."

Under the Affordable Care Act -- "Obamacare" -- states have the option to expand Medicaid to include those earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level, which is $18,000 for a single person and $30,000 for a family of three. Most states have done so, but Missouri has not, with lawmakers raising cost concerns.

We have always supported its expansion, and since September, a coalition -- Healthcare for Missouri -- has been collecting signatures to get it on the ballot, bypassing skeptical lawmakers to put it directly before voters. They argue that as many as 200,000 Missourians would be eligible -- 200,000 people who make too much money now to qualify for the federal health care program but who don't make enough to afford private insurance.

The campaign needs to collect 172,000 signatures to get the proposal directly before voters in November 2020, where we're optimistic it will pass.

Parson also has been candid in the past about his concerns with Missouri's voter-driven ballot initiatives.

To get a proposed statute on the ballot, supporters must collect signatures equal to 5 percent of the votes cast in the previous gubernatorial election in six of the state's eight congressional districts; if they are proposing an amendment to the state's constitution, it is 8 percent. Initiative supporters write their own measures; the secretary of state prepares the ballot language.

"The bar should be a little higher," Parson told the Associated Press.

Others have said it's tough enough getting these measures on the ballot already.

That's a debate for another day. What's important here is that Parson's recent remarks ought to give Missourians confidence that if they do their part, this has a realistic chance of passing.

Bottom line: It now appears that the only thing standing in the way of Missouri expansion of Medicaid is Missourians. If we want it, then sign the petition and support it at the polls in November.

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