Missouri’s Medicaid program will stop covering chiropractic care on July 1, 2026, stripping a chronic pain treatment from roughly 2,000 low-income patients. The state budget passed in May also eliminated MO HealthNet coverage for physical therapy and acupuncture for chronic pain.
Missouri Cut $658,660 in Preventive Pain Treatment From Its Medicaid Budget
Republican state Rep. Darin Chappell of Rogersville introduced the budget amendment that removed the funding. Chappell chairs the House subcommittee overseeing the Missouri Department of Social Services and told The Independent he was informed by department officials that there was “no hard evidence that the program saved the state any money.”
“Without the hard data, the department’s position was that this was an option that was used by a small minority, relatively, to the overall population that did not [cause] provable savings to the state.”
Rep. Darin Chappell (R-Rogersville), Missouri House, June 2026
That reasoning directly contradicts the logic that got chiropractic coverage approved in the first place. When Missouri lawmakers passed the 2018 law authorizing chiropractic benefits through MO HealthNet, the Missouri Department of Social Services projected savings of $8.9 million to $12 million in state general revenue over the first two full years, by reducing demand for back surgeries, emergency room visits, and opioid prescriptions.
Dr. Quinn James, a chiropractor in St. Peters who spent nine years testifying at the state capitol before the 2018 law passed, said chiropractic services advocates were never consulted about the cut. They did not learn about the elimination until the budget was already approved and headed to the governor’s desk.
The Broader Budget Math Left Patients With No Warning
Missouri lawmakers cut $375 million from general revenue spending in fiscal year 2027 as the state’s budget surpluses shrink. About 1.3 million Missourians were enrolled in MO HealthNet as of April 2026. The 2,000 chiropractic users represent less than 0.2 percent of that enrollment, which is part of why Chappell framed the cut as having “the least amount of impact.”
2,000 Missourians who used MO HealthNet chiropractic benefits per year, out of 1.3 million enrolled
For patients managing chronic back pain on Medicaid, the practical alternatives cost more: back surgeries, opioid prescriptions, or out-of-pocket chiropractic visits that typically run $60 to $200 per session without insurance. Those costs often loop back to the Medicaid program anyway, through emergency room claims.
The department’s claim that it had “no hard evidence” of savings is harder to evaluate because advocates say they were excluded from the review entirely. No independent audit of the 2018 program’s outcomes has been publicly released.
What you can do now
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Call Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe’s office at (573) 751-3222 and ask him to direct the Department of Social Services to delay the July 1 chiropractic, physical therapy, and acupuncture cuts until an independent cost-benefit analysis is completed. The cutoff is less than three weeks away.
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Contact Rep. Darin Chappell directly at (573) 751-1487 and tell him that eliminating preventive pain treatment shifts costs to more expensive Medicaid-covered services like ER visits and surgery. Ask him to introduce a supplemental appropriation restoring the $658,660 before the fiscal year begins.
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Call your Missouri state senator and representative through the Missouri General Assembly main line at (573) 751-3824. Ask them to support a supplemental budget amendment restoring MO HealthNet coverage for chiropractic, physical therapy, and acupuncture services. Find your specific legislators at house.mo.gov/findmyrep.
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If you or a family member will lose coverage July 1, document your situation in writing. Contact the Missouri Chiropractic Physicians Association at mocaphysicians.com to connect with advocates collecting patient impact testimony. Chappell explicitly cited lack of hard data as his justification; patient records are the data advocates are building now.
Sources
- Missouri Medicaid will no longer cover chiropractic care after budget cuts — Missouri Independent (2026-06-15)
Missouri Independent: Missouri Medicaid Will No Longer Cover Chiropractic Care After Budget Cuts Missouri Department of Social Services: MO HealthNet Enrollment Statistics, April 2026 Missouri General Assembly: HB 2011 (2018), Authorizing Chiropractic Services Under MO HealthNet KFF: Medicaid Benefits by Service Type and State Coverage Policies Missouri Independent: Medicaid Paperwork Problems Continue to Cost Thousands of Missourians Coverage
provable savings to the state.”, Rep. Darin Chappell (R-Rogersville), Missouri House, June 2026, Missouri Independent]