JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Doctors could charge Medicaid patients a fee for missing appointments under a bill that has won initial approval in the Missouri Senate.

Senators endorsed the bill Wednesday after adding a section designed to make it easier for health care providers to advertise their cost estimates.

The legislation would allow doctors to charge $5 after a Medicaid patient misses a second appointment within a three-year period. The fee could rise to $10 for the third missed appointment and $20 for each one missed after that.
Supporters said the bill is intended to attract more Medicaid providers.

Some Democrats said adults on Medicaid already live well below the poverty level, and those fees could be the difference between eating or missing meals.

The bill needs another vote to go to the House.