A judge ruled yesterday that enrollment for expanded Missouri Medicaid must begin without further delay. State officials said they needed more time to set up computer systems, hire new staff and re-submit an expansion plan to the federal government before enrolling new Medicaid recipients. But the judge orderd the state to start accepting applications from about 275,000 people inthe state now eligible for the program. Voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2020 to expand the program. But the state legislature didn’t budget money for new enrollees, so Governor Parson didn’t implement the expansion plan. Three Missouri women who would qualify under expansion sued the state. Last month, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the state must follow the constitutional amendment.