JEFFERSON CITY - In a cold-hearted and calculated political move, Jay Nixon is publicly opposing a new plan to help hundreds of thousands of Missourians purchase their own personal health insurance without a tax increase.

With no apologies to parents trying to provide health care for their families, Nixon issued a politically-motivated media statement attacking Gov. Matt Blunt’s “Insure Missouri” program which will reduce the number of uninsured Missourians by 30 percent by helping nearly 200,000 people purchase affordable health care.

Ironically, Nixon’s politically-motivated attacks and other uninformed rhetoric from the Democrat Party were rejected by the Missouri Budget Project, a Democrat umbrella group that called the governor’s plan “a good first step." The governor’s plan also earned praise from legislative leaders and other stakeholders who recognize the initiative will not only help reduce the number of uninsured, it will help lower health care costs for all Missourians.

Nixon’s so-called solution to health care challenges has been to call for a $1 billion tax increase to fund the old, broken Medicaid system. The “Insure Missouri” initiative is another step in the governor’s dedication to Missouri health care. The governor’s MO HealthNet plan for low-income Missourians was passed by the Republican Legislature providing greater access and better care to low-income Missourians. Now the governor is working to help significantly reduce the number of Missourians who lack health coverage.

“It is unconscionable that Jay Nixon would oppose helping thousands of working Missourians purchase affordable health coverage for themselves and their families just because the governor is proposing it. Instead of considering the thousands of Missourians whose lives will improve under this innovative health care solution, Jay Nixon instead issued a political attack that reveals he is only interested in raising taxes on Missourians,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. "Missouri’s lower income uninsured workers will soon have access to affordable health insurance and no one will be faced with a $1 billion tax burden like the one proposed by Jay Nixon.”