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JEFFERSON CITY, MO. (AP) -- Missouri Republicans are sounding alarms about the potential cost of federal health care legislation.

Some Republican officials claim a mandatory Medicaid expansion could cost Missouri $250 million a year. Others put the tab at $450 million. Still another at close to $1 billion.

But some of their rhetoric may exceed reality.

The Missouri Department of Social Services - which oversees the Medicaid health care program for the poor - says Missouri's cost of the proposed expansion could be closer to $100 million. And even that may not hit until 2017.

The U.S. House and Senate each have passed separate versions of the health care legislation. Another vote is needed by each chamber for a final version to go to President Barack Obama.

(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)