The push to expand Missouri's Medicaid program could also get a boost from Gov. Jay Nixon, who before his re-election this month had been noncommittal about whether the state should embrace the enlarged Medicaid program called for under President Barack Obama's health care law.

Nixon is planning news conferences Thursday at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Barnes Jewish Center in St. Louis and Jordan Valley Community Health Center in Springfield "to make a major announcement regarding health care in Missouri." Officials representing the Missouri Hospital Association and the Missouri Primary Care Association both said Wednesday that they plan to join Nixon at the events.

The hospital and primary care associations are part of the new Coalition for Healthy Economic Growth, which announced a campaign Wednesday to try to persuade state officials to expand Medicaid eligibility by highlighting the economic benefits. A report released by the hospital group and the Missouri Foundation for Health estimated that an additional 161,000 people would enroll in Medicaid if eligibility is expanded to adults earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.