A Sales Tax on Doctor Visits and Medicine? In Missouri, Some Worry

Missouri voters will vote in August on a constitutional amendment that could reshape the state's tax system. Per KFF Health News, the measure—backed by Republican lawmakers and the governor—would give the legislature power to replace the income tax with expanded sales taxes, potentially including prescription drugs and doctor visits that are currently exempt. The challenge: nearly two-thirds of Missouri's state budget, about eight point seven billion dollars annually, comes from income tax. If that revenue vanishes, critics warn the state would either slash services or resort to those healthcare taxes. The budget is already under pressure: the governor restricted four hundred forty million dollars in spending this year, and the state faces a projected fourteen billion dollar cut in federal Medicaid funding over the next decade. While proponents argue the tax cut would boost the economy, the cautionary tale comes from Kansas, which attempted similar cuts in twenty twelve. That move created such a budget hole that lawmakers reversed most of the cuts just five years later.

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