Gov. Tate Reeves, who for more than a year refused to endorse lengthening postpartum Medicaid coverage for new mothers from 60 days to a year, on Sunday announced his support for the extension. In a social media post, the first-term Republican governor facing reelection later this year said the Legislature should pass a bill extending […]
Mississippi should extend Medicaid for new mothers to a full year
During pregnancy, a woman’s body reorders itself to build a new life. Following pregnancy, a woman reorders her life to nurture the young child who depends on her for sustenance, protection, health, guidance and love. Even in the best of circumstances, with a family that supports them, a roof over their heads, food on their table […]
Action needed for Mississippi Medicaid recipients to avoid chance of losing coverage
If you or your child is covered by Medicaid, you need to know that some changes are coming, and you need to take some steps to make sure you aren’t kicked off the rolls. Georgetown University put out a report on the issue, saying millions of children around the country could lose coverage. So, we […]
House Republicans reject Medicaid expansion on floor, say plan to aid hospitals is coming
The House Republican majority rejected a Medicaid expansion amendment on the floor Wednesday that supporters said would aid the state’s struggling hospitals. The amendment, offered Wednesday by House Minority Leader Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, would have prevented the appropriation for the Mississippi Division of Medicaid from going into effect until Medicaid was expanded to provide […]
Q&A: Rep. Missy McGee calls postpartum Medicaid expansion ‘most impactful thing’ state can do for women and children
State Rep. Missy McGee, R-Hattiesburg, says it’s her mission to advocate for women as one of few females in the Mississippi Legislature. Health Editor Kate Royals met with McGee to talk about her experiences as a lawmaker and her push to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage for new moms in Mississippi. Editor’s note: This interview has […]
New poll shows overwhelming bi-partisan support for legislation to restore ballot initiatives
Today, a new poll released by the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund (SPLC Action Fund) and the New Southern Majority IE PAC showed overwhelming bi-partisan support for restoring the state’s ballot initiative process. The poll, conducted by Tulchin Research, shows that sixty-five percent 65% of Mississippians support restoring a ballot initiative process with only 14% opposing and 21% percent […]
As Mississippi Hospitals Fail, Leaders Kill Medicaid Expansion Efforts Again
Standing inside a shuttered hospital’s abandoned emergency room in Newton County, Miss., on Monday night, Democratic candidate for governor Brandon Presley blamed Gov. Tate Reeves for the fact that more than half of the state’s rural hospitals are in danger of closing. “This is the reality that Tate Reeves has chosen to put us in. […]
Former UM chancellor: Gov. Tate Reeves privately acknowledged Medicaid expansion benefits
Former University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones said that Gov. Tate Reeves once told him in a meeting that he understood how Medicaid expansion would benefit the state but couldn’t agree to champion it for political reasons. Jones, who led the state’s largest hospital, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, before he served as chancellor […]
Survey: Majority of lawmakers support postpartum Medicaid extension
Though they haven’t been given the chance to vote on it, a majority of House members want to extend health care coverage for moms on Medicaid from two months to one year, a Mississippi Today survey shows. Mississippi Today is polling all 174 lawmakers on the issue, which health care leaders say would save countless […]
Every Medicaid expansion bill dies without debate or vote
More than 15 bills that would have expanded Medicaid to provide health care coverage to primarily the working poor died on Tuesday night without debate or a vote. No committee chair in either the Senate or House held a hearing on those Medicaid expansion bills. The House Medicaid Committee, where Speaker of the House Philip […]
True and False on Medicaid expansion
Among the flawed arguments made by opponents of Medicaid expansion in Mississippi is this one: Because Medicaid generally does not compensate hospitals enough for what it takes to provide the care, they could actually end up doing worse financially if the state expands the program to cover the working poor. That was what Douglas Carswell, […]
Podcast: The surprising Medicaid expansion and governor’s race poll results
Mississippi Today’s politics team Adam Ganucheau, Bobby Harrison, and Geoff Pender break down some key results from a new Mississippi Today/Siena College poll. The team focuses on an overwhelming percentage of Mississippians who support expanding Medicaid and who want a new governor in 2023.
Why these Republican voters support, oppose Medicaid expansion
A new Mississippi Today/Siena College poll showed wide support for Mississippi expanding Medicaid to cover the working poor, including 70% support from Republican respondents. The numbers appear to show a continued shift of voter sentiment in what has long been a partisan battle. Mississippi’s elected Republican governors and other leaders for the last decade have […]
Poll: 80% of Mississippians favor Medicaid expansion
A wide majority of Mississippians across partisan and demographic lines supports expanding Medicaid to provide health coverage for the working poor, according to a newly released Mississippi Today/Siena College poll. The poll showed 80% of respondents — including 70% of Republicans — either strongly agree or somewhat agree the state should “accept federal funds to […]
Black Caucus pushes to revive initiatives, expand Medicaid
The Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus will push this year to revive an initiative process, ease the restoration of voting rights for former inmates, expand Medicaid, provide oversight for welfare spending and ensure that all parts of the state have access to high-speed internet and safe drinking water, the group’s chairwoman said Wednesday. “We want to […]
Session outlook: Lawmakers to take on infrastructure, tax rebates and Medicaid expansion during session
Senator J. Walter Michel represents District 25 and also serves as the chairman for the Senate Insurance Committee. Many of his accomplishments in the 2022 Legislative Session revolved around this committee and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and he hopes to see more bills come from these two areas in 2023. This year, the […]
This State Could Be the Last One (for a While, Anyway) to Expand Medicaid
For years, state Sen. Phil Berger says, there was nobody in North Carolina who opposed Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act more vehemently than he did. “If there was somebody in the state of North Carolina that had spoken out publicly in opposition to Medicaid expansion more than me, I’d like to talk to […]
Arkansas plan of insurance for poor more agreeable than Medicaid expansion for key lawmaker
State Senate Medicaid Committee Chair Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, is not the first politician to look to Arkansas as an example of how to provide health care coverage to more Mississippians. “No, I don’t believe in it,” Blackwell said of Medicaid expansion after a recent legislative hearing on the financial crisis facing Mississippi hospitals and their […]
Fact check: Feds not slated to end Medicaid expansion funding
Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney recently told members of the media he supports the expansion of Medicaid, but that the program most likely will end in 2025. That statement is inaccurate. Robin Rudowitz, vice president and head of the Medicaid team for the Kaiser Family Foundation, said the program is not slated to end and […]
Louisianans on Medicaid expansion can get care across river at Natchez hospital
Just across the Mississippi River bridge from Natchez are the Louisiana towns of Vidalia, Ferriday and other communities where there are people who have health care coverage through the expansion of Medicaid. Those Louisianans, if they are in the correct Medicaid health care network, can obtain medical services across the bridge in Mississippi at Merit […]
Reddit AMA recap: Medicaid expansion in Mississippi with Senior Political Reporter Geoff Pender
‘What’s your plan, watch Rome burn?’: Politicians continue to reject solution to growing hospital crisis Studies have shown and advocates have long touted the benefits of Medicaid expansion, but state leaders remain steadfast in their opposition. As such, Mississippi remains one of only 11 states in the country not to expand the federal-state program. Mississippi Today launched […]
Mississippi moms and babies suffer disproportionately. Medicaid expansion could help
During her 14 years working as an OB-GYN in Greenville, Dr. Lakeisha Richardson has seen five patients diagnosed with breast cancer during their pregnancies. Most of them did not have health insurance prior to pregnancy, so going to the doctor for annual checkups was neither affordable nor routine. They missed out on clinical screenings and […]
Mississippi leaving more than $1 billion per year on the table by rejecting Medicaid expansion
Mississippi would receive $1.61 billion in federal funds for the first year of Medicaid expansion and $1.64 billion in the second year, according to a study authored by the state economist’s office. The state’s top economists forecasted that Mississippi would collect $1.36 billion in year three, $1.38 billion in year four, and increasing by smaller […]
Who’s opposed to Mississippi Medicaid expansion and why?
While running for governor in 2019, then-Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves was quizzed at a Capitol Press Corps luncheon whether his opposition to expanding Medicaid coverage to working-poor Mississippians was softening. “I am opposed to Obamacare expansion in Mississippi. I am opposed to Obamacare expansion in Mississippi. I am opposed to Obamacare expansion in Mississippi. I […]