The states pay "their share" of Medicaid, and returning hospital capacity to Joplin will no doubt drop the cost of that. So it can be justified that way (as it is, the governments Federal and the stated, pay nearly 1/2 of America's medical expenses already and Obamacare is significantly increasing Medicaid eligibility (that was what the "Cornhusker Kickback" was about, shielding Nebraska from those cost increases)).

Help me understand why Mercy Health Systems of Joplin, a private corporation, is receiving more than $20 million of taxpayer funding to help them rebuild their hospital on another site. I can understand why Joplin High School might receive $2 million to complete exterior repairs, and MoDot might receive $3 million to repair or reconstruct highways and roads on federal lands in Joplin and even $1.3 million to the Missouri National Guard for recouping some of their expenses incurred while being deployed as a result of declared emergencies but, Sen. Richard, what legal method do "state officials" use to qualify Mercy as an eligible grantee?