House health committee gives do-pass recommendation to bill for lower-cost health product

The Missouri House Committee on Health and Mental Health voted 12–2, with one present, to give House Bill 366 a "do pass" recommendation after a brief executive-session debate about whether the measure's insurance-like product would leave gaps in preventive coverage.

The recommendation came during an executive session after Chair Stinnett moved that "House Bill 366 be voted do pass." The committee took the motion to roll-call vote and the chair announced the tally after the vote.

Representative Applebaum, who spoke against the bill, said she could not support the measure because it would not provide preventive care protections required under federal law and would leave patients exposed. "Until it happens to you, you can't possibly really know what it feels like," Applebaum said, describing her own experience with metastatic cancer and adding, "The ACA is the law of the land, and it requires insurance companies to cover mammograms and colonoscopies. But this product does not." She said national health organizations were opposed and that the proposal could mislead consumers because "this product is not insurance."

Representative Harbison spoke in support, saying the measure was intended to provide some coverage for people who cannot afford comprehensive plans and do not qualify for premium subsidies. "This isn't a donut hole, small group. This is an opportunity for people that can't afford the Cadillac plan," Harbison said, urging colleagues to "support this for what it is, not for what it's not."

Chair Stinnett moved the recommendation in executive session; the transcript does not show a recorded second motion. The committee chair announced: "By your vote of 12 ayes, 2 no's, and 1 present, you have voted House Bill 366 as due pass." The transcript did not specify the committee's next formal step for the bill.

The debate focused on two central questions: whether the product should be treated as insurance and therefore be subject to federal and state insurance requirements, and whether it would leave people without coverage for preventive services. Applebaum cited the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and said preventive services covered by the ACA would not necessarily be covered under the product described in the bill. Harbison and other supporters described the bill as creating limited, lower-cost coverage for people above subsidy thresholds who currently lack affordable options.

The committee convened with 13 members present and four absent, moved into executive session, debated the bill, and then voted. The transcript records that the American Cancer, Heart and Lung organizations were cited as opposed to similar bills; the transcript wording combined those group names in a single phrase. The committee record in the transcript did not enumerate individual roll-call votes by member beyond the chair's final tally announcement.

With the committee's do-pass recommendation, the bill will proceed according to the House's legislative process; the transcript did not specify a date for further action or the bill's subsequent committee assignments.