IN SESSION: Could legislative response to Mississippi’s healthcare crisis shift this year?

Some feel the new state administration could also mean a change in the direction of the Mississippi healthcare crisis response. Robert Johnson III, D-Natchez, who represents Mississippi’s 94th District inclusive of Adams, Franklin, and Jefferson counties, said it could mean further consideration of Medicaid expansion as one of the solutions to save hospitals on the brink of closing. “It’s the best chance we’ve had since the Affordable Care Act was made available to us,” he said. “Our new house speaker has said he is committed to having very serious discussions about it.”