House Speaker Richardson to lead Missouri's Medicaid program

Missouri House of Representatives Speaker Todd Richardson was chosen as director of the MO HealthNet Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services.

Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, is terming out and will resign from the House to take his new job as head of Missouri's Medicaid program on Nov. 1.

Missouri's Medicaid program covers nearly 1 million people, including low-income children, pregnant women, elderly people and those with disabilities.

"We have an enormous challenge in front of us," Richardson said during a news conference Monday. "The growth in spending is affecting nearly every area of our state's budget. At the same time, our health outcomes with MO HealthNet are not what they need to be."

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